Effects of Task Precision Demands on Behavioral and Physiological Changes During a Repetitive Asymmetric Lifting Activity

Abstract

Objective:

This study investigated the effects of task precision demands on behavioral and physiological changes during repetitive asymmetric lifting.

Background:

Repetitive lifting encountered in manual material handling leads to muscle fatigue and is a documented risk factor for low back disorder.

Method:

A total of 17 healthy volunteers performed repetitive asymmetric lifting for 60 min (10 lifts/min). Task precision demands were imposed by varying the entry width onto the destination conveyor. Physiological changes were assessed using near-infrared spectroscopy obtained from the erector spinae muscles. Three-dimensional spine kinematics and moment responses were quantified to understand behavioral changes during the lifting activity.

Results:

Task precision demands showed no effect on erector spinae muscle oxygenation levels. Behavioral changes associated with repetitive lifting included increases in the overall lift duration, peak forward bending motion, and three-dimensional movement velocities of the spine, along with a decrease in the lateral bending moment. Relative to low precision demands, high precision demands resulted in 20% longer placement periods, which, in turn, resulted in a 12% increase in the time-integrated twisting postures and a 10% increase in the time-integrated lateral bending moments during load placement.

Conclusion:

The elevated risk of low back injury when lifting under greater precision demands is likely due to the sustained spine twisting and the sustained lateral bending moment on the spine in the final phase of these lifts.

Application:

Understanding behavioral changes to repetitive asymmetric lifting, especially for tasks requiring greater precision can be used to support injury prevention efforts.

Keywords

manual materials handling fatigue kinematics biomechanics near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Aarås

Horgen

Bjørset

H. H.

Walsøe

(2001). Musculoskeletal, visual and psychosocial stress in VDU operators before and after multidisciplinary ergonomic interventions. A 6 years prospective study—Part II. Applied Ergonomics, 32, 559–571.

Adams

M. A.

Dolan

(1996). Time-dependent changes in the lumbar spine’s resistance to bending. Clinical Biomechanics, 11, 194–200.

Andersen

J. H.

Haahr

J. P.

Frost

(2007). Risk factors for more severe regional musculoskeletal symptoms: A two-year prospective study of a general working population. Arthritis & Rheumatism, 56, 1355–1364.

Beach

T. A.

Coke

S. K.

Callaghan

J. P.

(2006). Upper body kinematic and low-back kinetic responses to precision placement challenges and cognitive distractions during repetitive lifting. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 36, 637–650.

Bonato

Ebenbichler

Roy

Lehr

Posch

Kollmitzer

Della Croce

(2003). Muscle fatigue and fatigue-related biomechanical changes during a cyclic lifting task. Spine, 28, 1810–1820.

Bootsma

R. J.

Fernandez

Mottet

(2004). Behind Fitts’ law: Kinematic patterns in goal-directed movements. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 61, 811–821.

Borg

(1982). Ratings of perceived exertion and heart rates during short-term cycle exercise and their use in a new cycling strength test. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 3, 153–158.

Castiello

Bennett

Stelmach

G. E.

(1993). The bilateral reach to grasp movement. Behavioural Brain Research, 56, 43–57.

Davis

K. G.

Marras

W. S.

(2003). Partitioning the contributing role of biomechanical, psychosocial, and individual risk factors in the development of spine loads. Spine Journal, 3, 331–338.

10.

Davis

K. G.

Marras

W. S.

Heaney

C. A.

Waters

T. R.

Gupta

(2002). The impact of mental processing and pacing on spine loading: 2002 Volvo Award in biomechanics. Spine, 27, 2645–2653.

11.

Dedering

Németh

Harms-Ringdahl

(1999). Correlation between electromyographic spectral changes and subjective assessment of lumbar muscle fatigue in subjects without pain from the lower back. Clinical Biomechanics, 14, 103–111.

12.

Dempsey

P. G.

(1998). A critical review of biomechanical, epidemiological, physiological and psychophysical criteria for designing manual materials handling tasks. Ergonomics, 41, 73–88.

13.

Drury

C. G.

(1985). Influence of restricted space on manual materials handling. Ergonomics, 28, 167–175.

14.

Ferguson

S. A.

Allread

W. G.

Rose

Marras

W. S.

(2013). Shoulder muscle fatigue during repetitive tasks as measured by electromyography and near-infrared spectroscopy. Human Factors, 55, 1077–1087.

15.

Fitts

P. M.

(1954). The information capacity of the human motor system in controlling the amplitude of movement. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 47, 381–391.

16.

Garg

Banaag

(1988). Maximum acceptable weights, heart rates and RPEs for one hour’s repetitive asymmetric lifting. Ergonomics, 31, 77–96.

17.

Granata

K. P.

Marras

W. S.

(1995). The influence of trunk muscle coactivity on dynamic spinal loads. Spine, 20, 913–919.

18.

Hamaoka

McCully

K. K.

Quaresima

Yamamoto

Chance

(2007). Near-infrared spectroscopy/imaging for monitoring muscle oxygenation and oxidative metabolism in healthy and diseased humans. Journal of Biomedical Optics, 12, 062105.

19.

Heneweer

Staes

Aufdemkampe

van Rijn

Vanhees

(2011). Physical activity and low back pain: A systematic review of recent literature. European Spine Journal, 20, 826–845.

20.

Hoogendoorn

W. E.

Bongers

P. M.

De Vet

H. C. W.

Ariens

G. A. M.

Van Mechelen

Bouter

L. M.

(2002). High physical work load and low job satisfaction increase the risk of sickness absence due to low back pain: Results of a prospective cohort study. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 59, 323–328.

21.

Hummel

Läubli

Pozzo

Schenk

Spillmann

Klipstein

(2005). Relationship between perceived exertion and mean power frequency of the EMG signal from the upper trapezius muscle during isometric shoulder elevation. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 95, 321–326.

22.

Kimura

Sato

Ochi

Hosoya

Sadoyama

(2007). Electromyogram and perceived fatigue changes in the trapezius muscle during typewriting and recovery. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 100, 89–96.

23.

Laursen

Jensen

B. R.

Sjøgaard

(1998). Effect of speed and precision demands on human shoulder muscle electromyography during a repetitive task. European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology, 78, 544–548.

24.

Lavender

S. A.

Marras

W. S.

Ferguson

S. A.

Splittstoesser

R. E.

Yang

(2012). Developing physical exposure based back injury risk models applicable to manual handling jobs in distribution center. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, 9, 450–459.

25.

Lavender

S. A.

Tsuang

Y. H.

Andersson

G. B.

(1993). Trunk muscle activation and cocontraction while resisting applied moments in a twisted posture. Ergonomics, 36, 1145–1157.

26.

Lee

Nussbaum

M. A.

(2012). Experienced workers exhibit distinct torso kinematics/kinetics and patterns of task dependency during repetitive lifts and lowers. Ergonomics, 55, 1535–1547.

27.

Looze

M. D.

Bosch

Dieën

J. V.

(2009). Manifestations of shoulder fatigue in prolonged activities involving low-force contractions. Ergonomics, 52, 428–437.

28.

Lötters

Burdorf

Kuiper

Miedema

(2003). Model for the work-relatedness of low-back pain. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 29, 431–440.

29.

Lotz

Agnew

Godwin

Stevenson

(2009). The effect of an on-body Personal Lift-Assist Device (PLAD) on fatigue during a repetitive lifting task. Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology, 19, 331–340.

30.

Marras

W. S.

Granata

K. P.

(1995). A biomechanical assessment and model of axial twisting in the thoracolumbar spine. Spine, 20, 1440–1451.

31.

Marras

W. S.

Granata

K. P.

(1997). Changes in trunk dynamics and spine loading during repeated trunk exertions. Spine, 22, 2564–2570.

32.

Marras

W. S.

Lavender

S. A.

Ferguson

S. A.

Splittstoesser

R. E.

Yang

(2010). Quantitative biomechanical workplace exposure measures: Distribution centers. Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology, 20, 813–822.

33.

Marras

W. S.

Lavender

S. A.

Leurgans

S. E.

Rajulu

S. L.

Allread

W. G.

Fathallah

F. A.

Ferguson

S. A.

(1993). The role of dynamic three-dimensional trunk motion in occupationally-related low back disorders. The effects of workplace factors, trunk position, and trunk motion characteristics on risk of injury. Spine, 18, 617–628.

34.

Marras

W. S.

Parakkat

Chany

A. M.

Yang

Burr

Lavender

S. A.

(2006). Spine loading as a function of lift frequency, exposure duration and work experience. Clinical Biomechanics, 21, 345–352.

35.

Marteniuk

R. G.

MacKenzie

C. L.

Jeannerod

Athenes

Dugas

(1987). Constraints on human arm movement trajectories. Canadian Journal of Psychology/Revue canadienne de psychologie, 41, 365–378.

36.

McGill

S. M.

Hughson

R. L.

Parks

(2000). Lumbar erector spinae oxygenation during prolonged contractions: Implications for prolonged work. Ergonomics, 43, 486–493.

37.

Mehta

J. P.

Lavender

S. A.

Jagacinski

R. J.

(2014). Physiological and biomechanical responses to a prolonged repetitive asymmetric lifting activity. Ergonomics, 57, 575–588.

38.

Moritani

Nagata

Muro

(1982). Electromyographic manifestations of muscular fatigue. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 14, 198–202.

39.

National Research Council. (2001). Musculoskeletal disorders and the workplace: Low back and upper extremities. Washington, DC: National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine, Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, Panel on Musculoskeletal Disorders and the Workplace.

40.

Perrey

Thedon

Rupp

(2010). NIRS in ergonomics: Its application in industry for promotion of health and human performance at work. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 40, 185–189.

41.

Potvin

J. R.

O’Brien

P. R.

(1998). Trunk muscle co-contraction increases during fatiguing, isometric, lateral bend exertions: Possible implications for spine stability. Spine, 23, 774–780.

42.

Shan

Ning

Chen

Ding

Shi

Yang

(2013). Low back pain development response to sustained trunk axial twisting. European Spine Journal, 22, 1–7.

43.

Sparto

P. K.

Parnianpour

Reinsel

T. E.

Simon

(1997). The effect of fatigue on multijoint kinematics and load sharing during a repetitive lifting test. Spine, 22, 2647–2654.

44.

Stambolian

Eltoukhy

Asfour

Bonin

(2011). Investigation of avionics box precision placement using motion capturing and thermal imaging techniques. International Journal of Scientific and Engineering Research, 2(12), 1–6.

45.

Trafimow

J. H.

Schipplein

O. D.

Novak

G. J.

Andersson

G. B.

(1993). The effects of quadriceps fatigue on the technique of lifting. Spine, 18, 364–367.

46.

Yamada

Kusaka

Arima

Isobe

Yamamoto

Itoh

(2008). Relationship between muscle oxygenation and electromyography activity during sustained isometric contraction. Clinical Physiology and Functional Imaging, 28, 216–221.

47.

Zadry

H. R.

Dawal

S. Z. M.

Taha

(2011). The relation between upper limb muscle and brain activity in two precision levels of repetitive light tasks. International Journal of Occupational and Safety Ergonomics, 17, 373–384.