title: Frequent bending--an underestimated burden in nursing professions.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the present study was to quantify the total duration per shift in which nurses work in a forward bending position over 20°. Furthermore, the influence of several factors on the occurrence of sagittal trunk inclinations in nurses was investigated.
  
  
  METHODS
  Trunk postures were recorded for nine nursing home nurses from four German nursing homes and 18 hospital nurses from seven hospitals using the CUELA measurement system. A total of 79 shifts, 27 in nursing homes and 52 in hospitals, were analysed. All measurements were supported by video recordings. Specially developed software (WIDAAN 2.75) was used to synchronize the measurement data and video footage.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The total duration of inclinations per shift was significantly affected by the working area (nursing home or hospital) with an increase of 25.3 min in nursing homes (95% confidence interval 2.4-48.2; P = 0.032). Another factor was the extent of personal basic care tasks performed by the nurses (P < 0.001). Nursing home nurses worked about twice as long per shift in a forward bending position compared with hospital nurses (112 versus 63 min; P < 0.001) and they assumed almost one-third more inclinations per shift (1541 versus 1170; P = 0.005).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Nursing staff perform a large number of inclinations. The amount of time spent by nurses working in a forward bending position was highly dependent on the working area and the extent to which patients were in need of help. It is very likely that future preventive measures, focussing on reducing the huge amount of inclination, would reduce the physical stress in everyday nursing work substantially.
authors.affiliation: Institution for Statutory Accident Insurance and Prevention in the Health and Welfare Services, (BGW), Department for the Principle of Prevention and Rehabilitation, Pappelallee 33/35/37, 22089 Hamburg, Germany. sonja.freitag@bgw-online.de
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Freitag
authors.forename: Isabell
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fincke-Junod
authors.forename: Rachida
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Seddouki
authors.forename: Madeleine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dulon
authors.forename: Ingo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hermanns
authors.forename: Jan Felix
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Kersten
authors.forename: Tore J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Larsson
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nienhaus
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D017770:Lifting; D009740:Nursing Staff; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013122:Spinal Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D013131:Spine / Q000502:physiology*; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D017132:Workplace