earticle

영어

Purpose: This study identified the effect of abdominal muscle contraction using changes in waist circumference for healthcare workers with back pain due to inadequate posture during working hours. Methods: In this study, we provided educational training focused on posture alignment and utilized waist circumference change sensors to induce the contraction of abdominal muscles as a method to address low back pain in healthcare workers. All 32 participants received the same training and then were assigned to two groups: wearing the keeping core band (CB) and not wearing the keeping core band (NCB). For the CB group, the waist circumference change sensor was applied for 6 weeks during working hours. Wilcoxon’s signed-ranks test and paired t-tests were used to compare the differences between the groups. All statistical significance levels were set to ɑ=0.05. Results: Trunk muscle endurance increased significantly in the CB group. There was no significant difference in stability index to evaluate static postural control, but active hip abduction tests, which evaluate dynamic postural control, showed significant decrease in the CB group. Conclusion: These results suggest that the induction of abdominal contraction using the waist circumference change sensor may improve the trunk muscle endurance and the postural control ability of the hip and pelvis of healthcare workers.