Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, University Health Network, ON, Canada.
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, ON, Canada.
Work. 2020;66(1):41-51. doi: 10.3233/WOR-203149.
Patient handling activities require caregivers to adopt postures that increase the risk of back injury. Training programs relying primarily on didactic methods have been shown to be ineffective at reducing this risk. The use of real-time biofeedback has potential as an alternative training method.
To investigate the effect of real-time biofeedback on time spent by caregivers in end-range lumbar spine flexion.
Novice participants were divided into intervention (n = 10) and control (n = 10) groups and were asked to perform a set of simulated care activities eight times on two consecutive days. Individuals in the intervention group watched a training video on safer movement strategies and received real-time auditory feedback from a wearable device (PostureCoach) in four training trials whenever their lumbar spine flexion exceeded a threshold (70% of maximum flexion). Changes in end-range lumbar spine flexion were compared between groups and across trials.
Participants in the intervention group saw reductions in end-range lumbar spine flexion during the simulated patient handling tasks at the end of the training compared to their baseline trials while there was no change for the control group.
The training program including PostureCoach has the potential to help caregivers learn to use safer postures that reduce the risk of back injury.
患者搬运活动需要护理人员采取增加背部受伤风险的姿势。已证明主要依赖于说教方法的培训计划在降低这种风险方面效果不佳。实时生物反馈作为一种替代培训方法具有潜力。
研究实时生物反馈对护理人员在腰椎伸展终末范围所花费时间的影响。
将新手参与者分为干预组（n = 10）和对照组（n = 10），并要求他们在连续两天内完成一组模拟护理活动八次。干预组的个人观看了有关更安全运动策略的培训视频，并在穿戴式设备（PostureCoach）中接收到实时听觉反馈，每当他们的腰椎伸展超过阈值（最大伸展的 70%）时，就会收到反馈。比较组间和试验间终末腰椎伸展的变化。
与基线试验相比，干预组在培训结束时在模拟患者搬运任务中观察到终末腰椎伸展的减少，而对照组则没有变化。
包括 PostureCoach 的培训计划有可能帮助护理人员学习使用更安全的姿势，从而降低背部受伤的风险。
