Evaluation of forearm support provided by the Workplace Board on perceived tension, comfort and productivity in pregnant and non-pregnant computer users

Abstract

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of forearm support provided by the Workplace Board on perceived tension, comfort and productivity among pregnant and non-pregnant female computer workers. Ten pregnant and 18 non-pregnant women participated in the study. Participants completed three sets of tension/discomfort questionnaires at two week intervals. The first set was completed prior to any workstation intervention; the second set was completed after two weeks working with an ergonomically adjusted workstation; the third set was completed after two weeks working with the Workplace Board integrated into the office workstation. With the Workplace Board, decreased perceived tension was reported in the left shoulder, wrist and low back in non-pregnant women only. The Board was generally liked by all participants, and increased comfort and productivity in all areas, with the exception of a negative effect on productivity of general office tasks. The board is suitable for integration in most office workstations and for most users, but has no special benefits for pregnant women.

Are workplace health promotion programs effective at improving presenteeism in workers? a systematic review and best evidence synthesis of the literature

“…Insufficient blinding of the assessors and/or the participants was observed in several studies [59-61,63,64,69,70,72,75,79-81,83-85,88-91]. Information bias is likely in a number of the studies as some of the data collection tools have not been shown to be reliable and valid [59,61,63-65,72,78-82,85,87-90]. Finally, various studies did not adequately report withdrawal and/or drop-out rates, or had unacceptably high rates (i.e.…”