An investigation of the reliability of Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) as a method of assessment of children's computing posture

Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) is a quick observation method of posture analysis. RULA has been used to assess children's computer-related posture, but the reliability of RULA on a paediatric population has not been established. The purpose of this study was to investigate the inter-rater a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied ergonomics 2012-05, Vol.43 (3), p.632-636
Main Authors: Dockrell, Sara, O'Grady, Eleanor, Bennett, Kathleen, Mullarkey, Clare, Mc Connell, Rachel, Ruddy, Rachel, Twomey, Seamus, Flannery, Colleen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied physiology
Biological and medical sciences
Child
Children
Childrens health
Computers
Ergonomics
Ergonomics. Work place. Occupational physiology
Human physiology applied to population studies and life conditions. Human ecophysiology
Humans
Medical sciences
Pediatrics
Posture
Posture - physiology
Reliability
Reproducibility of Results
RULA
Task Performance and Analysis
Upper Extremity - physiology
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Summary:Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) is a quick observation method of posture analysis. RULA has been used to assess children's computer-related posture, but the reliability of RULA on a paediatric population has not been established. The purpose of this study was to investigate the inter-rater and intra-rater reliability of the use of RULA with children. Video recordings of 24 school children were independently viewed by six trained raters who assessed their postures using RULA, on two separate occasions. RULA demonstrated higher intra-rater reliability than inter-rater reliability although both were moderate to good. RULA was more reliable when used for assessing the older children (8–12 years) than with the younger children (4–7 years). RULA may prove useful as part of an ergonomic assessment, but its level of reliability warrants caution for its sole use when assessing children, and in particular, younger children. ► Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) is a moderately reliable tool for use in the assessment of children's computing posture. ► RULA demonstrated higher intra-rater reliability than inter-rater reliability. ► RULA was more reliable for assessment of older children than younger children.
ISSN:0003-6870
1872-9126
DOI:10.1016/j.apergo.2011.09.009