Disability, injury and ergonomics intervention.
OBJECTIVE
Disability due to work injury, trauma or disease is prevalent in our society. Also, due to slower growth of population and rapid increase in ageing population there may be an increasing pressure on shrinking labour pool. The purpose of this study is to review disability profile with common disabilities, socioeconomic impact of these disabilities, make a case for ergonomics as an enabler, and provide a couple of case studies to illustrate the point.


METHODS
Major disability statistical records were reviewed to reveal rates of disability in some countries of the world. Among them the age and gender association of disability has been described. Furthermore the major categories of disabilities associated with systemic disorders and their gradations have been described, e.g. cardiovascular conditions, pulmonary conditions and joint diseases. Finally, using a feed forward mechanism a specific and customized ergonomic intervention was designed for two workers with knee injury.


RESULTS
The prevalence of disability has been reported to range between 0.2% -20.9%. A significant association of disability with ageing was reconfirmed. A significant socio-economic impact of disability including differential employment rate for normal and disabled was discovered. A strategy and a means to achieve increased functionality in people with disability using ergonomic intervention has been described. Using a custom designed shin pad for rehabilitation of two workers with injured knee who were also on compensation were successfully returned to work many weeks before they may have been able to resume their work.


CONCLUSIONS
Using a functional classification and developing functional profiles of people with disability may allow ergonomists to develop generic as well as specific solutions to successfully intervene in many cases and improve their functional capacity.
Kumar
S
S
Department of Physical Therapy, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2G4, Canada. shrawan.kumar@ualberta.ca
D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000145:classification / Q000534:rehabilitation* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006804:Ergonomics / Q000592:standards*; D014943:Global Health; D006801:Humans; D007718:Knee Injuries / Q000534:rehabilitation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011157:Population Dynamics; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000534:rehabilitation*