Trapezius muscle activity and body movement at the beginning and the end of a workday and during the lunch period in female office employees

The aim of this study was to analyze the activity of the trapezius muscle and the arm acceleration during the course of a workday in office employees. It was examined if there are significant changes in trapezius muscle activity in the afternoon compared to the morning work period and relationships to the level of arm acceleration during lunchtime. Nineteen female office employees were recruited. A one hour period of the work in the morning, afternoon, and lunchtime were compared. The measures of the trapezius muscle activity and muscle rest time (TR) did not significantly differ between working in the morning (TR: median 10%; range 1%–49) or working in the afternoon (TR: median 18%; range 2%–34%). The 90(th) percentile of arm acceleration during lunch time significantly correlated with less trapezius muscle activity in the afternoon compared to the morning values (RT: Spearman R=0.80; p<0.01). Differences in the duration and level of trapezius muscle activity were bigger between the subjects than between different work periods or between lunchtime and work. Furthermore it seems that higher arm accelerations during lunch may be beneficial in reducing trapezius activity in the afternoon compared to the morning values.