Influence of snow shovel shaft configuration on lumbosacral biomechanics during a load-lifting task

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• 作者：Ryan T. Lewinson ; Gholamreza Rouhi ; D. Gordon E. Robertson
• 关键词：Ergonomics ; Joint loading ; Low back pain ; L5/S1 ; Spine
• 刊名：Applied Ergonomics
• 出版年：March, 2014
• 年：2014
• 卷：45
• 期：2
• 页码：234-238
• 全文大小：667 K

文摘

Lower-back injury from snow shovelling may be related to excessive joint loading. Bent-shaft snow shovels are commonly available for purchase; however, their influence on lower back-joint loading is currently not known. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare L5/S1 extension angular impulses between a bent-shaft and a standard straight-shaft snow shovel. Eight healthy subjects participated in this study. Each completed a simulated snow-lifting task in a biomechanics laboratory with each shovel design. A standard motion analysis procedure was used to determine L5/S1 angular impulses during each trial, as well as peak L5/S1 extension moments and peak upper body flexion angle. Paired-samples t-tests (伪聽=聽0.05) were used to compare variables between shovel designs. Correlation was used to determine the relationship between peak flexion and peak moments. Results of this study show that the bent-shaft snow shovel reduced L5/S1 extension angular impulses by 16.5% (p聽=聽0.022), decreased peak moments by 11.8% (p聽=聽0.044), and peak flexion by 13.0% (p聽=聽0.002) compared to the straight-shaft shovel. Peak L5/S1 extension moment magnitude was correlated with peak upper body flexion angle (r聽=聽0.70). Based on these results, it is concluded that the bent-shaft snow shovel can likely reduce lower-back joint loading during snow shovelling, and thus may have a role in snow shovelling injury prevention.