خلاصة:
Objectives: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders are a global problem which evolves at different workplaces such as industries, administrative, and agriculture sectors. In various studies, such disorders were assessed through multiple methods. It is necessary to evaluate different tools to use them in diverse communities. The aim of this study was to assess the validity of the new ergonomic evaluating method of Novel Ergonomic Postural Assessment (NERPA) method in Iran.
Methods: The employees (n=455) of operational units of four companies (drug producers, printing and publishing houses, dairy, and drinks producers) were assessed in 2014. It was a cross-sectional and descriptive-analytical study. One of the researchers developed a questionnaire that was applied to collect demographic data. The NERPA, Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA), and Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) methods were utilized to analyze posture risk factors. Spearman correlation and Kappa agreement were used to analyze the collected data through SPSS V22.
Results: Findings indicated that printing company had the best and pharmaceutical industries had the worst state regarding RULA’s results. The risk levels between NERPA and REBA were not statistically significant (P>0.05), however, that was significant with RULA’s outcome. Also, the results of NERPA and other two methods were correlated significantly (P<0.05). Pain in the lumbar area was implied to be the most prevalent problem (35.1%).
Discussion: Data of the present study suggest that NERPA method was a valid tool compared to RULA. The NERPA method could be used to evaluate standing tasks among industrial workers. However, the concurrent validity of NERPA method compared with results of REBA, as a widely used method, were not verified.
ملخص الجهاز:
Research Paper: Ergonomic Assessment of Posture Risk Factors Among Iranian Workers: An Alternative to Conventional Methods Mohammad Khandan1, Shahram Vosoughi2, Mohsen Poursadeghiyan3,4, Farahnaz Azizi5, Elaheh Ahounbar6, Alireza Koohpaei5* 1.
1. 11 Article info: Received: 01 Jun. 2017 Accepted: 18 Oct. 2017 Keywords: Posture, Musculoskeletal diseases, NERPA, Validity, RULA, REBA A B S T R A C T Work-related musculoskeletal disorders are a global problem which evolves at different workplaces such as industries, administrative, and agriculture sectors.
The NERPA, Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA), and Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) methods were utilized to analyze posture risk factors.
* Corresponding Author: Alireza Koohpaei, PhD Address: Work Health Research Centre, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran.
Methods The aim of this cross-sectional and descriptive-analyti- cal study was to assess the validity of NERPA as a postur- al assessment method in industries of Iran within the year 2014.
Based on the statistical analysis, Spear- man coefficient has demonstrated that the correlation between the assessed postures by NERPA and RULA in the investigated industries was significant.
Some studies have been performed about comparison, correlation, or agreement of different postural evaluating methods such as RULA [32, 33], REBA [34], or both [3, 33, 35].
REBA method for the ergonomic risk assessment of auto mechanics postural stress caused by working conditions in Kermanshah (Iran).
I ranian Rehabilitation Journal March 2018, Volume 16, Number 1 analysis by a new method named "loading on the upper body assessment" in Iran.
Survey of Correlation between Two Evaluation Method of Work Related Musculo- skeletal Disorders Risk Factors REBA & RULA.