• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.55-66
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• 2009

Background: The purpose of this research was to investigate the factors affecting the low back pain of workers in hospital. 214 subjects waking at two general hospitals in Yosu city participated in this survey. Subjects consisted of doctors, nurses, medical engineers, officers and general laborers. The survey data were collected by a written questionnaire which made out by themselves for 25 days, from fourth August to 29th August, 2008. Methods: The questionnaire consisted of four categories, general, occupational, working habitual and the daily living characteristics. The collected data were analyzed by Chi-square test based on the present or absent of low back pain. Results: 1. In the general characteristics, low back pain had no significant relationship to all factors, sex, ago, body mass index, weight and height. 2. In the occupational characteristics, the phase of distribution of low back pain had statistical significant differences in the working hours a week, satisfaction of pay, satisfaction of occupation(p<0.05). However low back pain did not significantly related to the kind of occupation, period of work and degree of stress. 3. In the habitual characteristics, low back pain was significantly influenced by working posture, frequency of using lumbar and heavy material lifting, monotonous repetition of working operation and noise(p<0.05). No significant difference was shown in the factor of convenience of chair. 4. In the daily living characteristics, low back pain shown the significant differences in walking time a day, status of health and smoking pattern(p<0.05). there were, however, no significant differences in the aspect of the kind of house and bed, sleeping attitude, driving, riding time on the vehicle, exercising, frequency of cultural life and drinking alcohol. Conclusion: when I see above resultants totally, it appears a higher incidence caused by working environment rather than living habit and then consequently compared to hospital workers, they also have high incidence like others. In order to reduce incidence of low back pain and enjoy the our life we need to educate ourselves preventing program for low back pain and try to effort for preventing of low back pain on each department and individual.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Navigation
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.67-79
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• 1999

The purpose of this study is to provide basic date on the causes and factors related with the workload on board for Korea Seaman's Low Back Pain. The date had been acquisited through the questionaires of those and analysed in Korea Institute of Maritime and Fisheries Technology from February 10 to April 10 in 1999. The results of this study are as follows: 1. The incidence of Occupational low back pain for the recent 12 months has been recorded as 56.2% of the subject. 2. The highter Occupational satisfaction has the lower incidence of low back pain(p＜0.01). and the person who takes a rest(p＜0.05) and physical exercise regularly(p＜0.01) has lower experience of the incidence. 3. The incidence of low back pain by charateristics of vessel was turn out as 59.3% of the fishing vessel, 55.3% merchantmarine and 52.9% of the vessel of special purpose. The incidence of each department of a ship has recorded as 54.3% of Deck Dept. 59.2% of engine Dept but there was little relationship between those. And the longer period of work and on-board service has the hither incidence of the higher incdence(p＜0.01). 4. The fittness of the working table (p＜0.01) and chair(p＜0.01) has affeced the incidence of low back pain significantly 5. The higher incidence of low back pain has been experienced in case of working: in back posture, and lifting up or carrying a heavy load(p＜0.01) 6. The major cause of low back pain was turned out as excessive workload(26.5%) and stress (18.5%) ; the stress(24.1%) and excessive overwork(22.4%) for Deck dept. and excessive workload(32.3%) and bad position(21.7%) for Engine Dept(P＜0.01)

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.15-31
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• 2000

The aim was to evaluate the prevailing ergonomic and psychosocial conditions regarding low back injury in an automobile assembly system. This study consisted of two parts. In the first part of the study, analytic biomechanical model and NIOSH guidelines were applied to evaluate risk levels of low back injury for automobile assembly jobs. Total of 246 workers were analysed. There were 20 jobs having greater back compressive forces than 300kg at L5/S1. Also, there were 44 jobs over Action Limit with respect to 1981 NIOSH guidelines. This might in part be explained by the ergonomic conditions of the company analysed generally being good, with a relatively low duration of 'combined' extreme work posture. The relationship between psychosocial factors and low back injury was examined in the second part of the study. It has recently been recognized that overall reaction to working conditions was influenced by a range of factors, some of which were physical and some psychosocial. The psychosocial environment surrounding the work place may contribute to the perception of risk and eventual ill-health. A battery of questionnaires concerning the psychosocial stress based on PWI(Psychosocial Well-being Index) and musculoskeletal pain symptoms at low back was completed by 246 workers at the same plant. Results showed that 207 out 246 workers experienced the symptoms and 27 workers were diagnosed as patients. Two groups(low stressed, high stressed) based on PWI score had no significant relationships with both symptoms and results of diagnosis. However, sensitivities for symptoms and diagnosis by PWI were 91.3% and 92.6% respectively. Finally, relationships between physical work load and psychosocial stress were analysed. Specifically, some postural factors {vertical deviation angle of forearm, horizontal deviation angle of upperarm, vertical deviation angle of thigh, etc) were highly correlated with psychosocial stress. The results illustrated that PWI scores were associated with some physical workloads. However, psychosocial stress levels couldn't be well related with the pain symptom as well as the actual incidence of low back injury since pain or discomfort regarding low back injury were more complex than that of other musculoskeletal disorders.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.304-310
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• 2019

Purpose: This study examined the work-related musculoskeletal pain and quality of life of hospital workers. Methods: Self-reported questionnaires were sent to 350 hospital workers at Seoul and Gyeonggi-do, of which 341 were returned. The questionnaire had four items that covered the demographic information, areas of musculoskeletal problems, pain rating scale, and quality of life. The analysis was completed using descriptive statistic, and the differences between pain and demographic variables were identified using a chi-square test. The differences between the type of occupation and quality of life were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance and a Kruskal-Wallis test. Results: The 12-month prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal pain was 86.1% of physical therapists, 86.5% of occupational therapists, 77.1% of dental hygienists, and 75.8% of nurses. A significant difference in the general and work related variables was observed between the subject with a physical burden and type of occupation. The most affected pain sites of the physical therapist included low back, hand and wrist, shoulder, and neck. The occupational therapists included the hand and wrist, shoulder, neck, but the nurses and dental hygienists reported the shoulder, back, hand and wrist. A significant difference in the quality of life was noted between the subjects in physical therapists and dental hygienists and the subjects in the nurses and occupational therapists (p=0.00). Conclusion: These findings show that hospital workers appear to be high risk for work-related musculoskeletal pain, and the quality of life of physical therapists and nurses was higher than that of dental hygienists and occupational therapists.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.291-301
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• 1997

This study was conducted to fine out factors related with the complains low back pain in eldery persons. The Questionnaires was done for 273 eldery persons who live in Pusan, Anyang, Ansan region from May 1996 ro April 1997. The results were as follows : 1. The prevalence rate were 49.5% and among them 20.74% were male was while 68.12% which shows high prevalance of female 2. There were no statistical significance except sex difference(P>0.05) 3. There statistical different with some factor fators which includes general health condition, the frequency of treatment, sleeping bed style, condition for future life (P<0.05). But showed no statistical significance with the other factors. 4. When compared between rural and urban area, there were some statistical difference among some factor such as ; where to treat, moring exercise frequency, walking duration, sleeping bed style, agricultural work involement, prepartory condition for future life.(P<0.05)

• Journal of Industrial Convergence
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.103-110
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• 2023

This study is a descriptive comparative study to identify personal characteristics and nursing work characteristics according to the presence or absence of back pain of nurses in intensive care units in general hospitals and to explore major factors that affect back pain induction. A survey was conducted on nurses in the intensive care unit of a general hospital located in D City, and a total of 100 copies were used for analysis. For data analysis, descriptive statistics, chi-square test, Fisher accurate test, and logistic regression analysis were performed using IBM SPSS 24.0. The study found that 69% of intensive care unit nurses had back pain, 65.2% of which experienced back pain for more than three months in the past year, and 84.1% had back pain after working in the intensive care unit. In the back pain intensity score measured by NRS, 49% answered that they experienced 4 or more points. As factors related to back pain, gender (p=.03) were significant variables in personal characteristics, in the characteristics of nursing work, the number of patient assistance (p=.03) and the number of patient exchanges (p=.01), heavy lifting (p=.04), satisfaction with the condition of the shoes (p=<.001) was found to be a significant variable affecting back pain induction. It is considered that hospital organization and national policies are needed to prevent and manage low back pain in intensive care unit nurses.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.39-45
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• 2016

Purpose: Physical therapists are likely to be exposed to work-related musculoskeletal pain due to excessive repetitive tasks. This study was conducted to identify the relationship between work-related musculoskeletal pain and quality of life of physical therapists. Methods: A self-reported questionnaires was sent to 200 physical therapists at in Seoul and Kyoungido. The questionnaires was returned by 170 physical therapists. The questionnaire had included 4 items that coveringed demographic information, areas of musculoskeletal problems, pain rating scale, and WHOQOL-BREF. The analysis was completed using descriptive statistics, and differences between pain and demographic variables were identified using the chi-square test. The relationship between work-related musculoskeletal pain and quality of life was analyzed by t-test and Pearson's correlation. Results: The overall prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal pain was 76.8%. The most affected pain sites included the low back (48.8%), shoulder (45.,2%), hand and wrist (43.5%), and neck (33.3%). Pain ratings of subjects with pain was were moderate. There was a A significant difference for the subdomains of quality of life was observed between the subjects with musculoskeletal pain and those without pain. Weak negative correlations (r=-0.28) were observed between pain rating scale and QOL. Conclusion: These findings show that physical therapists appear to be at a higher risk for work-related musculoskeletal pain and physical domain of QOL. Therefore, Ffurther research is needed to investigate examine the effect of risk factors and ergonomics as physical load, general health status on prevalence of musculoskeletal pain.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.149-155
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• 2013

Background: Stochastic resonance whole-body vibration training (SR-WBV) was tested to reduce work-related musculoskeletal complaints. Methods: Participants were 54 white-collar employees of a Swiss organization. The controlled crossover design comprised two groups each given 4 weeks of exercise and no training during a second 4-week period. Outcome was daily musculoskeletal well-being, musculoskeletal pain, and surefootedness. In addition, participants performed a behavioral test on body balance prior to when SR-WBV started and after 4 weeks of SR-WBV. Results: Across the 4-week training period, musculoskeletal well-being and surefootedness were significantly increased (p < 0.05), whereas musculoskeletal pain was significantly reduced only in those who reported low back pain during the last 4 weeks prior to the study (p < 0.05). Body balance was significantly increased by SR-WBV (p < 0.05). Conclusion: SR-WBV seems to be an efficient option in primary prevention of musculoskeletal complaints and falls at work.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.149-157
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• 2010

Objectives: To quantify disability level in salespeople with concurrent low back pain (LBP) and to determine the relative associations between demographic, occupational, psychosocial and clinical factors and back disability. LBP is the most common cause of work-related disability in people under 45 years of age and the most expensive cause of work-related disability, in terms of workers' compensation and medical expenses. Evidence suggests high prevalence of LBP in salespeople. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in which 184 saleswomen with a current episode of self-reported LBP working in a large up-scale department store filled out a battery of 6 self-administered questionnaires and received a standardised physical examination. Results: Saleswomen with concurrent LBP had low disability levels. Factors significantly associated with disability were pain intensity, measured by a visual analogue scale, in the past week (p < 0.001), physical and mental health status (p < 0.001, p = 0.003, respectively), fear avoidance scores for both work and physical activities (p = 0.031, p = 0.014, respectively), past history of LBP (p = 0.019), and self-reported frequency of pushing or pulling objects placed in high positions during work (p = 0.047). A significant level (45%) of the variance in disability status was explained by these variables. Conclusion: In clinical management of LBP workers who required prolonged standing, such as salespeople, clinicians should look for modifiable risk factors associated with disability. Specific measures need to be taken to prevent disability due to LBP among salespeople.

• Journal of Industrial Convergence
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.73-84
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• 2005

Musculoskeletal Disorders are usually caused or aggravated by poor work processes and unsuitable working conditions - that involve repetitive or forceful movements or the maintenance of constrained or awkward postures. The condition is characterized by discomfort and persistent pain. Case and Demographic Characteristics for Work-related Injuries and Illnesses Involving Days Away From Work, 2003. U.S" was examined. Causes of musculoskeletal disorders for assembly line workers were carpal tunnel syndrome(CTS), tendonitis, low back pain, and occupational stress. Recommendations of improvement for productivity are redesign of working conditions, exercise, prevent of musculoskeletal disorders and avoiding stress.