Exploring the Real-Time Variability and Complexity of Sitting Patterns in Office Workers with Non-Specific Chronic Spinal Pain and Pain-Free Individuals

Chronic spinal pain (CSP) is a prevalent condition, and prolonged sitting at work can contribute to it. Ergonomic factors like this can cause changes in motor variability. Variability analysis is a useful method to measure changes in motor performance over time. When performing the same task multipl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2024-07, Vol.24 (14), p.4750
Main Authors: Oliosi, Eduarda, Júlio, Afonso, Probst, Phillip, Silva, Luís, Vilas-Boas, João Paulo, Pinheiro, Ana Rita, Gamboa, Hugo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Back Pain - physiopathology
Biomechanical Phenomena - physiology
biomechanics
Body mass index
chronic pain
Chronic Pain - physiopathology
Data collection
Electromyography
Ergonomics - methods
Exercise
Female
Humans
Investigations
Kinematics
Male
Middle Aged
motor adaptions
Movement - physiology
movement variability
Neck pain
Posture
Posture - physiology
Questionnaires
Sensors
signal processing
Sitting Position
Smartphones
Smartwatches
spinal pain
Wearable computers
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Summary:Chronic spinal pain (CSP) is a prevalent condition, and prolonged sitting at work can contribute to it. Ergonomic factors like this can cause changes in motor variability. Variability analysis is a useful method to measure changes in motor performance over time. When performing the same task multiple times, different performance patterns can be observed. This variability is intrinsic to all biological systems and is noticeable in human movement. This study aims to examine whether changes in movement variability and complexity during real-time office work are influenced by CSP. The hypothesis is that individuals with and without pain will have different responses to office work tasks. Six office workers without pain and ten with CSP participated in this study. Participant's trunk movements were recorded during work for an entire week. Linear and nonlinear measures of trunk kinematic displacement were used to assess movement variability and complexity. A mixed ANOVA was utilized to compare changes in movement variability and complexity between the two groups. The effects indicate that pain-free participants showed more complex and less predictable trunk movements with a lower degree of structure and variability when compared to the participants suffering from CSP. The differences were particularly noticeable in fine movements.
ISSN:1424-8220
1424-8220
DOI:10.3390/s24144750