Thumbnail Image
Item

Active Breaks Reduce Back Overload during Prolonged Sitting: Ergonomic Analysis with Infrared Thermography

Sortino, Martina
; 
Trovato, Bruno
; 
Zanghì, Marta
; 
Roggio, Federico
; 
Musumeci, Giuseppe
Citations
Altmetric:
Genre
Journal article
Date
2024-05-29
Advisor
Committee member
Group
Sbarro Health Research Organization (SHRO) (Temple University)
Department
Biology
Subject
Active breaks
 Infrared thermography
 Musculoskeletal disorders
 Office workers
 Physical exercise
 Prevention
 Prolonged sitting
 Workplace interventions
Permanent link to this record
https://scholarshare.temple.edu/handle/20.500.12613/12059
Collections
Faculty/Researcher Works
Show all metadata
Files
Thumbnail Image
Musumeci-JournalArticle-2024-05-29.pdf
Adobe PDF, 2.51 MB
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm13113178
Abstract
Background: Prolonged sitting is a potential risk factor for musculoskeletal disorders in office workers. This study aims to evaluate the effect of active breaks on reducing muscle overload in subjects who sit for long periods using infrared thermography (IRT). Methods: A sample of 57 office workers participated in this study and were divided into two groups: active breaks (ABs) and no active breaks (NABs). The NAB group sat continuously for 90 min without standing up, while the AB group performed stretching and mobility exercises every 30 min. IRT measurements were taken every 30 min before the active breaks. Results: The results highlight that the skin temperature of the back increased significantly in both groups after 30 min of sitting; however, in the subsequent measurements, the AB group showed a decrease in temperature, while the NAB group maintained a high temperature. Exercise and time point of measurement all reported p-values < 0.001; there were no statistically significant differences between the ∆t0-1 of the NAB and AB groups, while the ∆t1-2 and ∆t1-3 of the NAB and AB groups showed statistically significant differences for all back regions. Conclusions: The clinical relevance of this study confirms the negative effects of prolonged sitting on the health of the back, demonstrating that active breaks can reduce back strain, emphasizing the need for workplace interventions. In addition, IRT represents a non-invasive method to assess back muscle overload and monitor the effectiveness of interventions in all categories of workers who maintain a prolonged sitting position. The main limitation of this study is the absence of a questionnaire for the assessment of back pain, which does not allow a direct correlation between temperature changes and back pain outcomes.
Description
Citation
Sortino, M.; Trovato, B.; Zanghì, M.; Roggio, F.; Musumeci, G. Active Breaks Reduce Back Overload during Prolonged Sitting: Ergonomic Analysis with Infrared Thermography. J. Clin. Med. 2024, 13, 3178. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm13113178
Citation to related work
MDPI
Has part
Journal of Clinical Medicine, Vol. 13, Iss. 11
ADA compliance
Embedded videos
License
Attribution CC BY
cb