[Load on the low back of care workers in nursing homes for the elderly].
In order to evaluate the load on the low back of care workers in nursing homes for the elderly, basic activities and working postures were analyzed for six care workers using the 30-s snap reading method. The trunk inclination angle (TIA) was also measured continuously using an inclination monitor. The analysis of basic activities showed that 22.5% and 21.1% of the workshift were spent on 'bathing and ablution' and 'meal', respectively, and 9.3%, 8.7% and 8.3% were spent on 'assistance with elimination', 'assistance with moving and repositioning' and 'exchange of bed sheet', respectively. Total of the assistance activity was 43.7% of the workshift. The analysis of working posture showed that 'standing' and 'standing bent forward' accounted for 36.1% and 29.5%, respectively, of the workshift. Total of three postures loading the low back ('standing bent forward', 'squatting', 'kneeling') accounted for 39.0%. The time spent in TIA of 20 degrees or more was 45.7%. The postures loading the low back during 'bathing and ablution', 'exchange of bed sheet' and 'assistance with elimination' account for 68.3%, 58.2% and 49.6%, respectively, which suggests that these activities load the low back of the care workers considerably.
Kumagai
Shinji
S
Osaka Prefectural Institute of Public Health, 1-3-69 Nakamichi, Higashinari-ku, Osaka 537-0025, Japan. kumagai@iph.pref.osaka.jp
Tainaka
Hidetsugu
H
Miyajima
Keiko
K
Miyano
Naoko
N
Kosaka
Junko
J
Tabuchi
Takeo
T
Akasaka
Susumu
S
Kosaka
Hiroshi
H
Yoshida
Jin
J
Tomioka
Kimiko
K
Oda
Hajime
H
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001415:Back / Q000502:physiology*; D017028:Caregivers; D005260:Female; D006707:Homes for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009735:Nursing Homes; D011187:Posture; D016526:Workload