Abstract
The purpose of this study was to compare perceived discomfort for joint motions between male and female subjects. Nineteen male and ten female subjects with no history of musculoskeletal disorders participated in the laboratory experiments, where the free modulus method of magnitude estimation was employed for measuring discomfort ratings for static joint motions. The results showed that the joint, joint motions, levels of joint motions and gender significantly affected perceived discomfort for varying joint motions. Based on the relative discomfort index (RDI) defined in this study, two ranking systems, classified by the joints and joint motions, and the joints, were proposed. The rankings were dependant upon the subjects' gender. The rankings for all joint motions except shoulder lateral rotation and for all joints were significantly higher in females than in males. In both male and female, the hip had the largest discomfort values of all joint motions, while the elbow showed lower discomfort than any other joint. The discomfort levels of female subjects for joint motions investigated were, on the whole, larger by about 35% than those of males.
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