INNOVATIVE LUMBO-PELVIC SEATING CUSHION TO IMPROVE LUMBO-PELVIC POSTURE DURING SITTING IN OFFICE WORKER

Abstract

Presently, office workers tend to sit for longer periods of time. More than half of all office workers have lower back symptoms or disorders as a pain indication. This pain is caused by a change in sitting posture in the lumbar and pelvic areas when sitting for a while. The seat cushion plays a role in adjusting the chair by increasing the seat pan inclination to improve anterior pelvic tilting of the pelvis. This study aimed to design an innovative seat cushion related to ergonomic design and improved sitting posture by promoting the anterior pelvic tilt and lumbar lordotic curve. As a result, two new seat cushions were developed. Then, the new seat cushion design was conducted to compare the use of no seat cushion when sitting in an office chair. Thirty-six healthy prolonged sitting office workers were analyzed and performed on the kinematics and pain scale. All participants were randomly assigned a sequence of sitting trials and scored the pain intensity by using a Visual Analog Scale (VAS). The placement of kinematic markers was used to assess and measure the lumbar and pelvic tilting angles. The pain score and interesting angles were compared at each trial as sitting on the chair with the addition of three various seat cushion designs. The results illustrated that the new seat cushion could improve sitting posture and also reduce pain in the lower back region.

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