Factors affecting the health promoting behaviors of office male workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: Using Pender’s health promotion model

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze the factors influencing the health promoting behavior(s) of office worker males in the COVID-19 pandemic by applying Pender’s health promotion model.Methods: The participants in this study were 149 male office workers at companies located in S, G and S cities. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation coefficient and a stepwise multiple regression using the SPSS Window 25.0 program.Results: The subject’s health promoting behaviors and prior related behaviors (r=.58, p<.001), perceived benefits of action (r=.41, p<.001), self-efficacy (r=.53, p<.001), social support (r=.39, p<.001), self-esteem (r=.47, p<.001) and commitment to a plan of action (r=.67, p<.001) showed a high positive correlation. The factpors affecting the subjects’ health promoting behaviors were the commitment to a plan of action (β=.35, p<.001), self-esteem (β=.27, p=.005), prior related behavior (β=.26, p<.001), health status (good) (β=.20, p=.001) and self-efficacy (β=.14, p=.047). These variables explained 63.0% of the subjects’ health promoting behaviors.Conclusion: During the COVID-19 pandemic, subjects are more likely to be exposed to disease due to reduced outdoor activity time and irregular eating habits due to the strengthening of social distancing. Health promoting behaviors are an important concept that can maintain health and prevent diseases. To improve the health promoting behaviors of men engaged in office work, it is necessary to develop and operate a health promotion behaviors program considering those variables.

Association of Occupational Risk Factors with the Level of Lumbar Disc Nucleus Pulposus Herniation

Background: Lumbar disc nucleus pulposus herniation causes functional and life quality impairment. Objective: To evaluate the association of various occupations with increased risk of lumbar disc herniation. Study Design: Retrospective study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Neurosurgery, Shaikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore from 1st June 2011 to 3oth June 2020. Methodology: Eighty patients between 30-60 years were enrolled after complete examination and lumbar disc herniation (nucleus pulposus) diagnosis. Variable including occupations type, working hours, clinical history were noted. Results: There were 86% males and 13.8% females. The mean age of patients was 51±7.3 years. Majority of patients were either educationist or office worker with 28.75% those who were lifting weight >10 kg by bending forward flexion at >90°. The working hours of 65% was >8 hours daily. Conclusion: Occupations with greater sitting, bending and weight lifting activities are risky and can result in lumbar disc nucleus pulposus herniation. Key words: Occupational risk, Disc degeneration, Lumbar disc, Nucleus pulposus

Smartphone-Based Human Sitting Behaviors Recognition Using Inertial Sensor

At present, people spend most of their time in passive rather than active mode. Sitting with computers for a long time may lead to unhealthy conditions like shoulder pain, numbness, headache, etc. To overcome this problem, human posture should be changed for particular intervals of time. This paper deals with using an inertial sensor built in the smartphone and can be used to overcome the unhealthy human sitting behaviors (HSBs) of the office worker. To monitor, six volunteers are considered within the age band of 26 ± 3 years, out of which four were male and two were female. Here, the inertial sensor is attached to the rear upper trunk of the body, and a dataset is generated for five different activities performed by the subjects while sitting in the chair in the office. Correlation-based feature selection (CFS) technique and particle swarm optimization (PSO) methods are jointly used to select feature vectors. The optimized features are fed to machine learning supervised classifiers such as naive Bayes, SVM, and KNN for recognition. Finally, the SVM classifier achieved 99.90% overall accuracy for different human sitting behaviors using an accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer sensors.

PREVALENCE AND RISK FACTORS OF DRY EYE AMONG PATIENTS OF A TERTIARY CARE CENTRE IN EASTERN INDIA

AIM: To determine the prevalence and risk factors of dry eye among patients of a tertiary care centre in eastern India. Symptoms of dry eye are encountered as one of the most frequent complains among the patients attending the outpatient department in ophthalmology commonly presenting as ocular discomfort, burning sensation and foreign body sensation.Prevalence of this entity is still not known in our study population due to lack of specificity of symptoms and diagnostic criteria. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective, observational, cross-sectional study was conducted among patients attending ophthalmology OPD in a tertiary care teaching hospital of Bihar. 4116 (16.64%) patients with dry eye symptoms were examined after taking informed consent. RESULTS: 1620 (6.55%) patients were found to have dry eye based on McMonnies questionnaire, Schirmer's test and tear film breakup time.There were 1180 female and 440 male with dry eye.Male to female ratio was 2.7:1.Non-tribals were affected more commonly than tribals. Students, outdoor workers and office worker with professional constituted over fifty percent of dry eye cases. CONCLUSION: Prevalence of dry eye was more in females and elderly as compared to male and younger population respectively.Burning sensation and ocular discomfort was the most common presenting complains.

Faktor-Faktor Penyebab Kejadian Low Back Pain pada Pekerja Kantoran: Systematic Review

Abstrak Latar Belakang: Saraf tepi pinggang bagian bawah sering mengalami masalah kesehatan yang saat ini lebih dikenal sebagai Low Back Pain (LBP). Penyakit ini sangat umum terjadi dan menjadi salah satu faktor utama yang berpengaruh dalam kualitas kinerja dan kesejahteraan kerja. Penyebab Low Back Pain (LBP) yang paling sering adalah duduk terlalu lama, sikap duduk yang salah, dan aktivitas yang berlebihan. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui dan memahami faktor-faktor besar yang menyebabkan terjadinya Low Back Pain di tempat kerja kantoran. Metode: Kajian ini diolah melalui proses sistematik yang tentu disesuaikan dengan tahapan Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review (PRISMA). Google Scholar digunakan karena kemudahan dalam mengakses juga banyaknya literatur yang dapat diakses secara gratis. Artikel dipilih berdasarkan publikasi yang diterbitkan dalam periode waktu dari tahun 2016 sampai dengan tahun 2021. Hasil: Posisi duduk yang tidak ergonomis, durasi duduk cukup lama dengan posisi yang sama, lingkungan kerja, dan karakteristik individu seperti umur, jenis kelamin, dan Indeks Massa Tubuh (IMT) berhubungan dengan kejadian LBP. Sementara itu, beban kerja tidak berhubungan dengan kejadian LBP. Kesimpulan: Faktor yang mempengaruhi kejadian LBP pada pekerja kantoran yaitu karakteristik individu, posisi duduk, durasi duduk, dan faktor lingkungan kerja berhubungan dengan kejadian LBP. Sedangkan faktor yang tidak berhubungan yaitu beban kerja. Diharapkan kepada para pekerja kantoran untuk memperbaiki posisi dan durasi duduknya sebagai pencegahan terhadap LBP. Kata kunci : Low Back Pain, posisi duduk, pekerja kantoran, dan tempat kerja Abstract Background: The nerves of the lower waist often experience health problems which are currently better known as Low Back Pain (LBP), this disease is very common and became one of the main factors that affect the quality of work performance and welfare. The most common causes of Low Back Pain are sitting too long, the wrong sitting posture, and excessive activity. The purpose of this study were to identify and understand the major factors that cause LBP in the office workplace. Methods: This study was processed through a systematic process which adapted to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review (PRISMA) stage. Google Scholar was used due to the convenience of accessing, the large amount of literature, and open access. Articles published during 2016 to 2021 were included. Result: This study found that a non-ergonomic sitting position, long sitting duration in the same position, work environment, and individual characteristics (such as age, sex, and Body Mass Index (BMI)) were associated with the incidence of LBP. Meanwhile, the workload were not related to the incidence of LBP. Conclusion: Individual characteristics, sitting position, sitting duration, and work environment were found as related factors of LBP. It is expected for office workers to improve their sitting position and duration as a prevention against LBP. Key Words : Low Back Pain, sitting posture, office worker, and workplace

Working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic: Impact on office worker productivity and work experience

BACKGROUND: With the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations embraced Work From Home (WFH). An important component of transitioning to WFH is the effect on workers, particularly related to their productivity and work experience. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to examine how worker-, workspace-, and work-related factors affected productivity and time spent at a workstation on a typical WFH day during the pandemic. METHODS: An online questionnaire was designed and administered to collect the necessary information. Data from 988 respondents were included in the analyses. RESULTS: Overall perception of productivity level among workers did not change relative to their in-office productivity before the pandemic. Female, older, and high-income workers were likely to report increased productivity. Productivity was positively influenced by better mental and physical health statuses, having a teenager, increased communication with coworkers and having a dedicated room for work. Number of hours spent at a workstation increased by approximately 1.5 hours during a typical WFH day. Longer hours were reported by individuals who had school age children, owned an office desk or an adjustable chair, and had adjusted their work hours. CONCLUSION: The findings highlight key factors for employers and employees to consider for improving the WFH experience.

Office Worker Perspective on an Artificial Intelligence Workstation: A Qualitative Study

Date Presented Accepted for AOTA INSPIRE 2021 but unable to be presented due to online event limitations. This study explored office workers' perspectives on including artificial intelligence (AI) in their office workspace. Following an iterative analysis of six focus-group interviews with a total of 45 participants, three constructs emerged. Rich discussions demonstrated how acceptability of an AI workstation is complex and affected by the person, context, and their occupations. Primary Author and Speaker: Yoko E. Fukumura Contributing Authors: Julie McLaughlin Gray, Gale Lucas, Burcin Becerik-Gerber, and Shawn C. Roll