Standing All Day at Work? It May Take Toll on Health
Standing All Day at Work? It May Take Toll on Health
Experiencing lower-limb muscle fatigue daily may have long-term consequences, study suggests
TUESDAY, July 28, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Desk jobs aren't good for your health, but working on your feet could spell trouble, too, researchers say.
Standing five hours a day contributes to significant and prolonged lower-limb muscle fatigue, a small study concluded. This may raise your risk for long-term back pain and musculoskeletal disorders.
This isn't good news for the millions of bank tellers, retail assistants, assembly line workers and others who earn their living on their feet. The study authors pointed out that almost half of all workers worldwide spend more than three-quarters of their workday standing.
Two hours of standing on the job is not associated with problems, but "a longer period is likely to have detrimental effects," said study lead author Maria-Gabriela Garcia, a doctoral candidate within the department of health sciences and technology at ETH Zurich in Switzerland.
The findings were published online recently in the journal Human Factors.
Standing for long periods is already associated with a higher risk for short-term problems, such as leg cramps and backaches. But the current study set out to see whether prolonged standing also raised the risk for developing longer-term issues.
The investigators focused on 14 men and 12 women. Half were between 18 and 30 years old, and half between 50 and 65. None had a history of any neurological or musculoskeletal disorder, and all were asked to refrain from high-level exertion the day before study participation.
Replicating a shift at a manufacturing plant, all were asked to simulate light tasks while standing at a workbench for five hours with five-minute rest breaks and one half-hour lunch break.
Posture stability and leg muscle stress (quantified as "muscle twitch force") were monitored throughout, and participants were asked to report on discomfort.
The result: Regardless of age or gender, participants were equally likely to experience significant fatigue at the end of the work day. What's more, clear signs of muscle fatigue were observed for more than a half-hour after the standing period ended, regardless of whether the participants actually felt the strain.
Standing All Day at Work May Take Toll on Health
Experiencing lower-limb muscle fatigue daily may have long-term consequences, study suggests
TUESDAY, July 28, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Desk jobs aren't good for your health, but working on your feet could spell trouble, too, researchers say.
Standing five hours a day contributes to significant and prolonged lower-limb muscle fatigue, a small study concluded. This may raise your risk for long-term back pain and musculoskeletal disorders.
This isn't good news for the millions of bank tellers, retail assistants, assembly line workers and others who earn their living on their feet. The study authors pointed out that almost half of all workers worldwide spend more than three-quarters of their workday standing.
Two hours of standing on the job is not associated with problems, but "a longer period is likely to have detrimental effects," said study lead author Maria-Gabriela Garcia, a doctoral candidate within the department of health sciences and technology at ETH Zurich in Switzerland.
The findings were published online recently in the journal Human Factors.
Standing for long periods is already associated with a higher risk for short-term problems, such as leg cramps and backaches. But the current study set out to see whether prolonged standing also raised the risk for developing longer-term issues.
The investigators focused on 14 men and 12 women. Half were between 18 and 30 years old, and half between 50 and 65. None had a history of any neurological or musculoskeletal disorder, and all were asked to refrain from high-level exertion the day before study participation.
Replicating a shift at a manufacturing plant, all were asked to simulate light tasks while standing at a workbench for five hours with five-minute rest breaks and one half-hour lunch break.
Posture stability and leg muscle stress (quantified as "muscle twitch force") were monitored throughout, and participants were asked to report on discomfort.
The result: Regardless of age or gender, participants were equally likely to experience significant fatigue at the end of the work day. What's more, clear signs of muscle fatigue were observed for more than a half-hour after the standing period ended, regardless of whether the participants actually felt the strain.
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