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Web-based KAP Intervention on Office Ergonomics: A Unique Technique for Prevention of Musculoskeletal Discomfort in Global Corporate Offices

AIMS: The purpose of this study was to evaluate web-based Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) intervention on office ergonomics – a unique method for prevention of musculoskeletal discomfort (MSD) – in corporate offices that influences behavior modification. BACKGROUND: With the increasing use of...

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Autores principales: Madhwani, Kishore P., Nag, P. K.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5763837/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29391743
http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/ijoem.IJOEM_145_17
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author Madhwani, Kishore P.
Nag, P. K.
author_facet Madhwani, Kishore P.
Nag, P. K.
author_sort Madhwani, Kishore P.
collection PubMed
description AIMS: The purpose of this study was to evaluate web-based Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) intervention on office ergonomics – a unique method for prevention of musculoskeletal discomfort (MSD) – in corporate offices that influences behavior modification. BACKGROUND: With the increasing use of computers, laptops and hand-held communication devices globally among office employees, creating awareness on office ergonomics has become a top priority. Emphasis needs to be given on maintaining ideal work postures, ergonomic arrangement of workstations, optimizing chair functions, as well as performing desk stretches to reduce MSD arising from the use of these equipment, thereby promoting safe work practices at offices and home, as in the current scenario many employees work from home with flexible work hours. Hence, this justifies the importance of our study. OBJECTIVE: To promote safe working by exploring cost-effective communication methods to achieve behavior change at distant sites when an on-site visit may not be feasible. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An invitation was sent by the Medical and Occupational Health Team of a multinational corporation to all employees at their offices in Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Malaysia to take up an online Nordic questionnaire, a screening tool for musculoskeletal symptoms, shared in local languages on two occasions – baseline evaluation (n = 240) and a follow-up evaluation after 3 months (n = 203). After completing the baseline questionnaire, employees were immediately trained on correct postures and office ergonomics with animation graphics. The same questionnaire was sent again after a 12-week gap only to those employees who responded to the baseline questionnaire on initial assessment. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Data collected were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0 software and variables were compared using odds ratio as well as Chi-square test. RESULTS: Of the 203 employees who responded, 47.35% had some musculoskeletal symptoms. Among them 58.7% had lower back pain, 46.9% had upper back pain, 44.1% had wrist pain, 39.5% had shoulder pain, and 37% had knee pain. The percentages are high as some participants had multiple complaints i.e. 2 or 3 complaints. However, only 40% of these employees had ongoing symptoms at the time of evaluation (past 7 days). A subsequent 3-month evaluation after web-based intervention showed a significant 41–50% decline in ongoing symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that newer technology using web-based animation graphics is a highly efficient technique to create office ergonomics awareness and has the potential to become a best practice in countries where language is a communication barrier and an on-site visit may not be feasible due to meagre resources.
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spelling pubmed-57638372018-02-01 Web-based KAP Intervention on Office Ergonomics: A Unique Technique for Prevention of Musculoskeletal Discomfort in Global Corporate Offices Madhwani, Kishore P. Nag, P. K. Indian J Occup Environ Med Original Article AIMS: The purpose of this study was to evaluate web-based Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) intervention on office ergonomics – a unique method for prevention of musculoskeletal discomfort (MSD) – in corporate offices that influences behavior modification. BACKGROUND: With the increasing use of computers, laptops and hand-held communication devices globally among office employees, creating awareness on office ergonomics has become a top priority. Emphasis needs to be given on maintaining ideal work postures, ergonomic arrangement of workstations, optimizing chair functions, as well as performing desk stretches to reduce MSD arising from the use of these equipment, thereby promoting safe work practices at offices and home, as in the current scenario many employees work from home with flexible work hours. Hence, this justifies the importance of our study. OBJECTIVE: To promote safe working by exploring cost-effective communication methods to achieve behavior change at distant sites when an on-site visit may not be feasible. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An invitation was sent by the Medical and Occupational Health Team of a multinational corporation to all employees at their offices in Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Malaysia to take up an online Nordic questionnaire, a screening tool for musculoskeletal symptoms, shared in local languages on two occasions – baseline evaluation (n = 240) and a follow-up evaluation after 3 months (n = 203). After completing the baseline questionnaire, employees were immediately trained on correct postures and office ergonomics with animation graphics. The same questionnaire was sent again after a 12-week gap only to those employees who responded to the baseline questionnaire on initial assessment. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Data collected were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0 software and variables were compared using odds ratio as well as Chi-square test. RESULTS: Of the 203 employees who responded, 47.35% had some musculoskeletal symptoms. Among them 58.7% had lower back pain, 46.9% had upper back pain, 44.1% had wrist pain, 39.5% had shoulder pain, and 37% had knee pain. The percentages are high as some participants had multiple complaints i.e. 2 or 3 complaints. However, only 40% of these employees had ongoing symptoms at the time of evaluation (past 7 days). A subsequent 3-month evaluation after web-based intervention showed a significant 41–50% decline in ongoing symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that newer technology using web-based animation graphics is a highly efficient technique to create office ergonomics awareness and has the potential to become a best practice in countries where language is a communication barrier and an on-site visit may not be feasible due to meagre resources. Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd 2017 /pmc/articles/PMC5763837/ /pubmed/29391743 http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/ijoem.IJOEM_145_17 Text en Copyright: © 2017 Indian Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0 This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.
spellingShingle Original Article
Madhwani, Kishore P.
Nag, P. K.
Web-based KAP Intervention on Office Ergonomics: A Unique Technique for Prevention of Musculoskeletal Discomfort in Global Corporate Offices
title Web-based KAP Intervention on Office Ergonomics: A Unique Technique for Prevention of Musculoskeletal Discomfort in Global Corporate Offices
title_full Web-based KAP Intervention on Office Ergonomics: A Unique Technique for Prevention of Musculoskeletal Discomfort in Global Corporate Offices
title_fullStr Web-based KAP Intervention on Office Ergonomics: A Unique Technique for Prevention of Musculoskeletal Discomfort in Global Corporate Offices
title_full_unstemmed Web-based KAP Intervention on Office Ergonomics: A Unique Technique for Prevention of Musculoskeletal Discomfort in Global Corporate Offices
title_short Web-based KAP Intervention on Office Ergonomics: A Unique Technique for Prevention of Musculoskeletal Discomfort in Global Corporate Offices
title_sort web-based kap intervention on office ergonomics: a unique technique for prevention of musculoskeletal discomfort in global corporate offices
topic Original Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5763837/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29391743
http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/ijoem.IJOEM_145_17
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