| Abstract [eng] |
ABSTRACT Vilnius University Faculty of Medicine Health Science Institute Department of Rehabilitation, Physical and Sports Medicine Integrated Medical Studies Program ANALYSIS OF FACTORS AFFECTING THE BIOMECHANICAL LOADS OF THE LOWER BACK OF MEDICAL STAFF DURING PATIENT LIFTING. ANALYTICAL CLINICAL STUDY Master's Thesis in Integrated Medical Studies The Author: Radvilė Kernagytė Academic supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aušra Adomavičienė Keywords: medical staff, biomechanical loads, lower back. The aim of research work: to assess the factors influencing the biomechanical loads on the lower back of healthcare workers during patient transfer and to analyse their health implications. Tasks of work: 1. To assess the physical and functional condition, fitness and level of physical activity of the subjects; 2. To assess and analyse the biomechanical loads on the lumbar spine segment of the subjects at different moments of patient transfer; 3. To identify factors associated with subjects' physical and functional indicators and physical fitness that may influence the load on the L5-S1 spinal segment during patient transfer. Material and methods: a clinical-analytical study was carried out in two stages. Stage I - selection of research participants, questionnaire survey, assessment of movements, physical and functional status. Stage II - simulated patient transfer using the Xsens IMU motion capture system and statistical data analysis. Results: the study included 46 subjects, the majority of whom were women (31); the highest compression of the L5-S1 segment is achieved during the active lifting phase between 2.0 and 4.5 s, and the maximum compression value exceeds 7000 N, with possible peaks >10,000 N when lifting without a transfer belt; after analysing the height of the subjects between representatives of different specialities, we found a statistically significant difference between nurses and physiotherapists and nurses and students, i.e. nurses were significantly shorter (respectively, the average height of nurses was 161.90±6.05 cm, physiotherapists 178.56±11.30 cm, occupational therapists 177.50±14.36 cm, students 178.71±11.34 cm). Conclusions: the physical indicators of the nurses were significantly worse than those of the other professionals: the average quadriceps strength of the left leg was 8.21±1.74 kg, the right leg - 8.19±1.32 kg; statistically significant correlations were found between the physical indicators, between spinal flexion and height (r=0.5064, p=0.0003), between quadriceps strength of the right leg and quadriceps strength of the left leg (r=0.9193, p<0.0001). |
