Abstract
Cake decorating involves several hand intensive steps with high grip force during the application of icing. The purpose of this laboratory study was to evaluate forearm muscle activity, discomfort, productivity, and usability of a new device for cake decorating compared to the traditional piping bag method. Subjects (N=17) performed two hours of cake decorating tasks using two different devices. Muscle activity from three forearm muscles, posture, subjective hand and arm fatigue, and usability of each device were assessed. Outcome measures were evaluated using binomial, Wilcoxin Signed Rank test, and the paired t-test. Mean median (APDF 50%) muscle activity were significantly less for the new device across all three muscles, and posture analysis showed significantly less wrist extension. Subjects rated the new device superior for refill and comfort, and the traditional method better for accuracy. The new device significantly reduced grip force and awkward wrist posture, two important risk factors for distal upper extremity pain and disorders. However, the new device did not receive the best overall rating because of problems with accuracy and overflow, especially with smaller decorating tips.
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