Changes in Navicular Drop during a Workday among Health Personnel and the Association with Musculoskeletal Discomfort and Pain
Authors
Bach, Rasmus Møller ; Stenskrog, Andreas
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2024
Submitted on
2024-05-28
Pages
13
Abstract
Formål: at forstå, hvordan fodtræthed hænger sammen med ubehag og smerter i løbet af en arbejdsdag blandt dansk sundhedspersonale. Vi brugte stræksensorteknologi til gentagne gange at måle dynamisk naviculardrop (DND)—hvor meget fodens svang sænker sig under bevægelse—som et mål for fodtræthed. Samtidig vurderede deltagerne ubehag på en numerisk skala fra 0 til 10 (NRS), hvor enhver score over 0 blev regnet som smerte eller ubehag. I dette prospektive kohortestudie blev 24 sygeplejersker og -assistenter målt fire gange i løbet af en vagt. Efter vagten blev deltagerne inddelt efter deres NRS-forløb: P (n=9) havde smerter ved start; NP (n=10) rapporterede ingen smerter; DVP (n=5) startede uden smerter, men udviklede smerte mindst én gang i løbet af dagen. Den primære analyse viste, at DND ændrede sig forskelligt over tid mellem grupperne (signifikant tids-gruppe-interaktion, p=0,009). Sammenlignet med gruppen uden smerter sås forskellige mønstre i DND-ændringer hos både dem, der udviklede smerte, og dem, der havde smerte fra start, mellem den anden og tredje måling; gruppen med smerte fra start adskilte sig også mellem tredje og fjerde måling. Disse forskelle var statistisk signifikante. Studiet viser, at stræksensorer er velegnede til gentagne DND-målinger i virkelige arbejdssituationer, og at fodsvangens bevægelse over dagen er anderledes hos personale uden smerter end hos kolleger med smerter. Forfatterne beskriver dette som et paradigmeskifte i forståelsen af fodens dynamiske biomekanik med potentiale til mere målrettede tiltag, der kan reducere ubehag og på sigt sygefravær.
Purpose: to understand how foot fatigue relates to discomfort and pain during a workday among Danish healthcare staff. We used stretch sensor technology to repeatedly measure dynamic navicular drop (DND)—how much the foot arch lowers during movement—as an indicator of foot fatigue. At the same times, participants rated discomfort on a 0–10 Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), where any score above 0 counted as pain or discomfort. In this prospective cohort study, 24 nurses and nurse assistants were measured four times during a shift. After the shift, participants were grouped by their NRS patterns: P (n=9) had pain at the start; NP (n=10) reported no pain; DVP (n=5) started without pain but developed pain at least once during the day. The primary analysis found that DND changed differently over time across groups (significant time-by-group interaction, p=0.009). Compared with the no-pain group, both those who developed pain and those with pain from the start showed different patterns of DND change between the second and third measurements, and the pain-from-start group also differed between the third and fourth measurements; these differences were statistically significant. This shows that stretch sensors are suitable for repeated DND measurements during real workdays, and that the no-pain group’s foot arch motion changed differently over the day than in colleagues who felt pain. The authors present this as a paradigm shift in understanding the foot’s dynamic biomechanics, with potential to inform more targeted measures that reduce discomfort and, ultimately, work absenteeism.
[This summary has been rewritten with the help of AI based on the project's original abstract]
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