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Effective Methods of Reducing Lower Back, Neck and Shoulder Pain Among Office Workers

Phase 1
Completed
Conditions
Musculoskeletal Pain
Low Back Pain
Interventions
Other: Control
Other: office exercise training
Other: ergonomic modification
Other: Exercise and ergonomic
Registration Number
NCT02874950
Lead Sponsor
Universiti Putra Malaysia
Brief Summary

Background:Musculoskeletal discomforts (MSD), especially in the neck, lower back and shoulder areas, are some of the most common issues among office workers. The Social Security Organization (SOCSO) in Malaysia caps number of cases involving musculoskeletal injuries at a maximum of 10,000 per year.

Objectives: The primary aims of this research were to: 1. Measure the prevalence of MSD in a sample of office workers; 2. Test effective methods of reducing lower back, neck and shoulder pain in this sample by training exercise, or ergonomics modification, or both of them; and 3. Assess discomfort scores and the range of motion of the lower back, neck and shoulder muscles among the office workers after undertaking the different methods for a period of 6 months.

Methods: In a true experimental design, from 10,000 staff in Telecom Malaysia,onehundred and forty two office workers (of whom 50 were male), aged 20-50 y, were allocated randomly, from 3 different locations (Bangsar, Puchung, and Damansara), to one of three intervention groups (receiving training exercise, receiving modified ergonomics, receiving a combination of exercise and ergonomics modification) and a control group (receiving none of these interventions). The Cornell MSD Questionnaire was used to measure musculoskeletal discomforts, with focus on pain severity, before treatment and after 2, 4 and 6 months of the interventions. The range of motion (ROM) of the hip, neck, shoulder and knee were measured by a 12 inch goniometer, and the Borg CR10 scale was used to measure the perceived exertion of training exercises. The rapid office strain assessment (ROSA) questionnaire was used to assess the strain associated with office work. Height and weight were also measured to calculate the body mass index (BMI).

Detailed Description

It is expected that, 6 months intervention including exercise training, ergonomic modification and mixture of these 2 intervention, maybe can decrease the severity of pain in lower back, neck and shoulder among office workers.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
142
Inclusion Criteria
  • Working in office
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Exclusion Criteria
  • Any physical or mental disease any surgery in background any limitation by Dr
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Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
SINGLE_GROUP
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
ControlControlControl group did not do any exercise and did not follow any ergonomic modification.
Office exercise trainingoffice exercise trainingA package of exercise raining was defined by the researcher and one of the intervention group did it for 6 months.
Ergonomic modificationergonomic modificationThe ergonomic group, followed 6 months ergonomic modification.
Exercise and ergonomicExercise and ergonomicThe mixture group, did 6 months exercise training and also followed 6 months ergonomic modification.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Measuring the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorder By Cornell questionniareBaseline

The Cornell MSD Questionnaire was used to measure musculoskeletal discomforts.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Measure the effects of exercise training on decrease the musculoskeletal disorder by measuring the range of motion in neck, shoulder and lower back, and severity of pain will be measured by Cornell questionniareChange from Baseline musculoskeletal disorder at 6 months

range of motion was measured by Goniometer.

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