A Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating the Effect of Two Task Chair Designs on Shoulder and Neck Pain among Sewing Operators

Abstract

This 4 month randomized controlled trail evaluated the effect of chair design on neck/shoulder pain among sewing machine operators. 277 sewing machine operators with neck/shoulder pain were assigned to receive (1) miscellaneous items (control group), (2) a chair with a flat seat pan plus miscellaneous items, or (3) a chair with a curved seat pan plus miscellaneous items. Participants who received the flat seat chair experienced a decline in pain of 0.14 (95% CI: 0.07 to 0.22) points per month compared to those in the control group, while those who received the curved seat experienced a decline of 0.34 (95% CI: 0.28 to 0.41) points per month compared to those in the control group. These findings demonstrate that an adjustable height task chair with a curved seat pan can reduce neck and shoulder pain severity among sewing machine operators.