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. 2020;66(1):41-51.
doi: 10.3233/WOR-203149.

Reducing lumbar spine flexion using real-time biofeedback during patient handling tasks

Mohammadhasan Owlia  1   2 , Megan Kamachi  1   3 , Tilak Dutta  1   3
Affiliations

Reducing lumbar spine flexion using real-time biofeedback during patient handling tasks

Mohammadhasan Owlia et al. Work. 2020.

Abstract

Background: 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.

Objective: To investigate the effect of real-time biofeedback on time spent by caregivers in end-range lumbar spine flexion.

Methods: 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.

Results: 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.

Conclusions: The training program including PostureCoach has the potential to help caregivers learn to use safer postures that reduce the risk of back injury.

Keywords: PostureCoach; family caregivers; low back pain; multi-component training intervention; personal support workers.

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Conflict of interest statement

None to report.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Setup of HomeLab for this study.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Setup of PostureCoach.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Schematic of the updated protocol used in this study.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Average histogram of forward spine flexion angles (in degrees) in intervention group for Trial 1, and Trial 8.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Average histogram of forward spine flexion angles (in degrees) in control group for Trial 1, and Trial 8.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
50th, 80th and 95th percentile of forward flexion/maximum flexion across trials in intervention and control groups. Error bars show standard error.
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Video effect among individuals in intervention group. Error bars show standard error.
Fig. 8
Fig. 8
Changes in 50th, 80th and 95th percentile lumbar spine flexion values between Trial 1 and Trial 8 for the intervention and control groups. Error bars show standard error.
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