Reduction of Fatigue and Musculoskeletal Complaints in Garment Sewing Operator through a Combination of Stretching Brain Gym® and Touch for Health.

Lusi Ismayenti,Hanifa Maher Denny,Bagoes Widjanarko,Agus Suwandono

doi:10.3390/ijerph18178931

Lusi Ismayenti, Hanifa Maher Denny + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18178931

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of using a combination of stretching and Brain Gym®(BG) + Touch for Health (TfH) movements to reduce fatigue and musculoskeletal complaints (MSCs) in garment-sewing operators. A quasi-experimental study was performed on 53 respondents with two sessions of stretching movements and BG + TfH movements of 5 min duration, three times a week for four weeks. Fatigue was measured using a reaction timer and MSCs were measured using a Nordic Body Map questionnaire. Wilcoxon and Mann–Whitney U tests were performed to examine the differences of pre/post and between the intervention group (IG) and control group (CG). A significant difference was found in IG for pre- and post-fatigue (p < 0.001) and MSCs (p < 0.001), while in CG there was no difference in fatigue (p = 0.200) and MSCs (p = 0.086). Significant differences were found between the IG and CG groups in terms of fatigue (p = 0.046), as well as in MSCs (p < 0.001). A significant decrease in MSCs per part body in IG was found on the left wrist, left hand, and left knee. The percentage of MSC severity decreased in all parts of the body, except the right shoulder, left elbow, and right thigh.

Highlights

The garment industry is a labor-intensive industry [1,2], forming 8.3% of the total trade in industrial materials in the world [3]
This study provides a combination of stretching movements and Brain Gym (BG) + Touch for Health (TfH) movements
This study shows that sewing work uses dynamic movements that are more dominant in the right muscles from the upper extremities [16] to the lower extremities [17], providing a balanced stretch and strengthening the left and right muscles [43,48,51]

Summary

Introduction

The garment industry is a labor-intensive industry [1,2], forming 8.3% of the total trade in industrial materials in the world [3]. The production process is manual work (e.g., design development, assembly, sewing, and finishing). The garment-sewing operators’ work involves prolonged sitting positions and whole-day repetitive movement, and the rapid pace of the work leads to risk of fatigue and musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) [5,6,7,8,9]. Fatigue has contributed to the occurrence of MSDs and is still a problem for ergonomics researchers around the world [10], affecting mental and physical health [11,12], increasing the frequency of workplace accidents, and decreasing productivity [13]. Prolonged fatigue without adequate rest can increase the severity of MSDs [15]

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