Standing, sitting and associated working conditions in the Quebec population in 1998

Abstract

Working posture is an important determinant of musculoskeletal and vascular health. Knowledge of the context and type of postures is necessary in order to examine their associations with health-related outcomes. This study describes self-reported usual working postures in a population and their associations with other working conditions and demographic variables. The 1998 Quebec Health and Social Survey is a population-based survey of 11,986 private households in the province of Quebec. It contained a self-administered questionnaire, including an extensive occupational health section. The analyses in this study were limited to respondents with paid employment who had at least 6 months seniority in their current job, comprising 9,425 subjects. The overall prevalence of usual work in a standing posture is 58%; it is more common among men, workers under 25 years, those in the two lowest educational quintiles and those with incomes under 20,000 Canadian dollars. Only one person in six who works standing reports being able to sit at will. Women and men differ in the types of usual standing and sitting postures at work. Those who work standing and/or who work in more constrained postures are more likely to be exposed to other physical work demands, such as handling heavy loads, repetitive work, forceful exertion and low job decision latitude. The association between decision latitude and constrained postures is an important link between psychosocial and physical stressors in the workplace. In epidemiological studies, exposure covariation and interactions should be considered in the generation and interpretation of the associations between work postures and musculoskeletal disorders.

Should studies of risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders be stratified by gender? Lessons from the 1998 Québec Health and Social Survey

“…Male-female differences in exposure prevalence have been previously reported from this dataset (24). These prevalences varied slightly among the studies, which had slightly different criteria for inclusion.…”

Indicators for choosing an optimal mix of major working postures

“…In Que´bec, Canada, 59% of all workers report that they usually work standing, and the proportion of standing workers rises to 81% among young workers aged 15-24 (Tissot et al, 2005;Laperrie`re et al, 2005). By contrast, in the MUSIC I study of a Swedish working population aged 20-64, only 19% of men and 15% of women worked standing during more than one-tenth of the day (Wiktorin et al, 1991).…”

Reproducibility and validity of workers’ self-reports of physical work demands

“…For example, Halpern et al (8) have a question about slippery or uneven surfaces because it may influence the risk associated with material handling. Messing and his colleagues have developed questions on sitting and standing postures that specify the degree of constraint (eg, the possibility of sitting or standing at will) and mobility associated with these postures (43,44). In France, Leclerc (45) described the influence of ergonomists on the selection of exposure measures in the national epidemiologic survey of upper-extremity musculoskeletal disorders; they recommended taking into account dimensions of physical load associated with the latitude for changing body position such as workpace imposed by a machine or not, the possibility of taking breaks at will, and the like.…”