Development of the Prevent for Work questionnaire (P4Wq) for assessment of musculoskeletal risk in the workplace: part 1-literature review and domains selection

Objective This study aims to define appropriate domains and items for the development of a self-administered questionnaire to assess the risk of developing work-related musculoskeletal disorder (WMSD) and the risk of its progression to chronicity. Design Literature review and survey study. Setting and participants A literature review and a two-round interview with 15 experts in musculoskeletal pain were performed to identify the available domains for WMSD assessment. Interventions and outcome To ensure quality, only validated questionnaires were included for the Delphi process. A three-round Delphi method, with three round steps, was used to select the most pertinent and relevant domains and items. Results Nine questionnaires were identified through the expert discussion and literature review, comprising 38 candidate domains and 504 items. In the first round of the Delphi group, 17 domains reached more than 70% agreement and were selected. In the second round, 10 domains were rejected, while 11 were selected to complete the pool of domains. In the third and final round, 89 items belonging to 28 domains were defined as significant to develop a WMSDs risk assessment questionnaire. Conclusions No specific risk assessment questionnaires for WMSDs were identified from the literature. WMSD risk of presence and chronicity can be defined by an assessment tool based on the biopsychosocial model and the fear-avoidance components of chronic pain. The present study provides the formulation and operationalisation of the constructs in domains and items needed for developing and validating the questionnaire

Photographic measurement of upper-body sitting posture of high school students: A reliability and validity study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>All the reported measures of sitting posture, as well as photographs, have one flaw, as these measures are external to the body. These measures use calculations from external bony landmarks to estimate spinal posture, on the understanding that what is being measured externally reflects the shape, health and performance of structures of the underlying spine. Without a comparative measure of the relative position of the structures of the spine, the validity of any external spinal posture measure cannot be established. This paper reports on a study which tests the validity of photographs to measure adolescent sitting posture.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study was conducted in a laboratory at the Department of Human Biology, University of Cape Town. A random sample of 40 adolescents were recruited from the Cape metropolitan schools, to detect differences of three degrees or more between the repeated measures of upright, normal or slouched posture (photographs) and between the posture photographs and LODOX measures. Eligible participants were healthy male and female subjects aged 15 or 16 years old, in Grade 10, and who were undertaking Computer or Computype studies at their schools. Two posture measurement tools were used in the study, namely: Photographs were taken using the Photographic Posture Analysis Method (PPAM) and Radiograph<it>s </it>were taken using the LODOX (LODOX (Pty) Ltd) system. Subjects' posture was assessed in simulated computer workstations. The following angles were measured: the sagittal head angle, cervical angle, protraction/retraction angle, arm angle and the thoracic angle.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Data from 39 subjects (19 males, 20 females) was used for analysis (17 15-year-olds (7 boys and 10 girls), 22 16-year-olds (12 boys and 10 girls)). All but one photographic angle showed moderate to good correlation with the LODOX angles (Pearson r values 0.67–0.95) with the exception being the shoulder protraction/retraction angle Pearson r values. Bland Altman limits of agreement illustrated a slight bias for all angles. The reliability study findings from repeated photographs demonstrated moderate to good correlation of all angles (ICC values 0.78–0.99).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The findings of this study suggest that photographs provide valid and reliable indicators of the position of the underlying spine in sitting. Clinically it is important to know whether a patient is showing true progression in relation to a postural intervention. Based on the results of this study, the PPAM can be used in practice as a valid measure of sitting posture.</p

Physiological responses to low-force work and psychosocial stress in women with chronic trapezius myalgia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Repetitive and stressful work tasks have been linked to the development of pain in the trapezius muscle, although the underlying mechanisms still remain unclear. In earlier studies, it has been hypothesized that chronic muscle pain conditions are associated with imbalance in the autonomic nervous system, predominantly expressed as an increased sympathetic activity. This study investigates whether women with chronic trapezius myalgia show higher muscle activity and increased sympathetic tone at baseline and during repetitive low-force work and psychosocial stress, compared with pain-free controls.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Eighteen women with chronic trapezius myalgia (MYA) and 30 healthy female controls (CON) were studied during baseline rest, 100 min of repetitive low-force work, 20 min of psychosocial stress (Trier Social Stress Test, TSST), and 80 min recovery. The subjects rated their pain intensity, stress and energy level every 20 min throughout the experiment. Muscle activity was measured by surface electromyography in the trapezius muscle (EMGtrap) and deltoid muscle (EMGdelt). Autonomic reactivity was measured through heart rate (HR), skin conductance (SCL), blood pressure (MAP) and respiration rate (Resp).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>At baseline, EMGtrap, stress ratings, and HR were higher in MYA than in CON. Energy ratings, EMGdelt, SCL, MAP and Resp were, however, similar in the two groups. Significant main group effects were found for pain intensity, stress ratings and EMGtrap. Deltoid muscle activity and autonomic responses were almost identical in MYA and CON during work, stress and recovery. In MYA only, pain intensity and stress ratings increased towards the end of the repetitive work.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We found increased muscle activity during uninstructed rest in the painful muscle of a group of women with trapezius myalgia. The present study could not confirm the hypothesis that chronic trapezius myalgia is associated with increased sympathetic activity. The suggestion of autonomic imbalance in patients with chronic local or regional musculoskeletal pain needs to be further investigated.</p

A Genome-Wide Association Study of Diabetic Kidney Disease in Subjects With Type 2 Diabetes

dentification of sequence variants robustly associated with predisposition to diabetic kidney disease (DKD) has the potential to provide insights into the pathophysiological mechanisms responsible. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of DKD in type 2 diabetes (T2D) using eight complementary dichotomous and quantitative DKD phenotypes: the principal dichotomous analysis involved 5,717 T2D subjects, 3,345 with DKD. Promising association signals were evaluated in up to 26,827 subjects with T2D (12,710 with DKD). A combined T1D+T2D GWAS was performed using complementary data available for subjects with T1D, which, with replication samples, involved up to 40,340 subjects with diabetes (18,582 with DKD). Analysis of specific DKD phenotypes identified a novel signal near GABRR1 (rs9942471, P = 4.5 x 10(-8)) associated with microalbuminuria in European T2D case subjects. However, no replication of this signal was observed in Asian subjects with T2D or in the equivalent T1D analysis. There was only limited support, in this substantially enlarged analysis, for association at previously reported DKD signals, except for those at UMOD and PRKAG2, both associated with estimated glomerular filtration rate. We conclude that, despite challenges in addressing phenotypic heterogeneity, access to increased sample sizes will continue to provide more robust inference regarding risk variant discovery for DKD.Peer reviewe

Injured workers&rsquo; perception of loss and gain in the return to work process

Hon Sun Lai,1,2 Grace PY Szeto,1 Chetwyn CH Chan3 1Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 2Total Rehabilitation Management (Hong Kong) Limited, 3Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong&nbsp;Kong Abstract: When a worker is injured at work, he has to face a tough decision-making process about when and how to return to work (RTW). This study tests how the prospect theory can be applied to influence the injured workers&rsquo; perceptions about this important choice. One hundred forty-one injured workers were presented with wage- and pain-related information in four different message framing (negatively or positively) and precision (smaller or larger number) conditions. After exposure to the specific combination of this wage and pain information, the participants were asked to express intentions to RTW in terms of perceived chance, confidence, and anticipated sick leave duration. When asked to predict their RTW outcome, 101 participants (72.3%) responded favorably, whereas only 40 (27.7%) indicated an expectation for staying on sick leave. The present results did not show significant differences in the participants&rsquo; responses to the positively and negatively framed information about wage and pain. However, it was noted that the control group that was presented with positive framing for both &ldquo;wage&rdquo; and &ldquo;pain&rdquo; information showed higher scores in expectation and confidence for RTW, whereas the Ambivalent Group that had both negative messages showed lower scores. Seventy-nine participants who had &ge;60% perceived improvement in condition were selected for further analysis, and those who were presented with &ldquo;wage loss&rdquo; information rated significantly higher perceived chance of RTW than those in the &ldquo;pain gain&rdquo; group. More in-depth investigation is warranted on this topic, with a larger sample of injured workers to investigate the effects of message framing on the decision-making process about RTW. Keywords: wages, injury, compensation, rehabilitatio

Injured workers' perception of loss and gain in the return to work process

2016-2017 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journal201811_a bcmaVersion of RecordPublishe

Cumulative IT use is associated with psychosocial stress factors and musculoskeletal symptoms

2017-2018 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journal201803 bcmaVersion of RecordSelf-fundedPublishe

Identification of biomechanical risk factors for the development of lower-back disorders during manual rebar tying

2015-2016 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalAccepted ManuscriptOthersHong Kong Construction Industry CouncilPublishe

Proactive safety measures : quantifying the upright standing stability after sustained rebar tying postures

Title on author’s file: Towards proactive safety measures: 1 Quantifying the upright standing 2 stability after sustained rebar tying postures2017-2018 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journal201812 bcrcAccepted ManuscriptOthersHong Kong Construction Industry CouncilPublishe