Back Belts Research Articles

Applying an extended prototype willingness model to predict back seat safety belt use in China

<abstract> <p>The risk of injury and death in traffic accidents for passengers in the back and front seats can be reduced by utilizing safety belts. However, passengers use back seatbelts far less frequently than those in the front. More investigation is therefore required into the psychological constructs that affect individuals' attitudes toward using back seat belts. In this study, four models were used to analyze individual intentions and actual back seat belt use: the standard theory of planned behavior (TPB); the standard prototype willingness model (PWM); a model that integrates the TPB and PWM constructs; and a model that integrates the TPB construct, PWM constructs, descriptive norms and perceived law enforcement. The results showed that the standard PWM has much more explanatory power than the standard TPB in explaining the variance in behavioral intention and behavior. Incorporating perceived behavioral control (PBC) into the standard PWM did not improve the model fit considerably, while incorporating descriptive norms and perceived law enforcement moderately improved the model fit. Attitude greatly impacted behavioral intention and the use of back seat belts, followed by perceived law enforcement and descriptive norms, while subjective norms, prototype favorability, prototype similarity and PBC had no significant effect.</p> </abstract>

An In-Silico Study on the Therapeutic Effect of Low Back Belts: Biomechanical Correlation between Belt Design and Patient Morphology

A comparative study of eight different lumbar belts, which are representative of the French market, was carried out on four typical morphologies of patients to assess their therapeutic effects and identify the correlation between the therapeutic parameters and mechanical ones. Four typical morphologies were chosen among 15 patients that had been chosen for the clinical study: tall-large, small-large, tall-thin, and small-thin. Simplified 3D finite elements (FE) models of the trunk according to each patient’s morphology were used for numerical analyses using Abaqus SimuliaTM. The same material properties of the body structures and boundary conditions were taken for all models to only focus on morphological variations. The material properties of eight lumbar belts were obtained by mechanical testing. The pressure applied by the belt to the trunk was modelled by Laplace’s law. The influences of belt types on typical morphologies were analyzed and synthetized to show which parameters are significant for biomechanical efficacy and attendance to the therapeutic effects. Finally, we found the following belt effects: (i) the lumbar belt is more efficient on the thin morphology than the large one, (ii) all mechanical values checked on the vertebral disks and vertebrae have a strong correlation with the correction of lordosis angle, and (iii) the belt’s global stiffness is an important parameter for generating the pressure applied to the trunk.

The new "Tehran Back Belt": Design then testing during a simulated sitting task improved biomechanical spine muscle activity.

Background: Spinal load and muscle activity in occupation settings is an area of increasing concern. Regarding technological advancements, in diverse occupations the spinal loads have increased through constrained seated postures. Back belts are consequently used in prophylactic and conservative management of occupational low back pain (LBP) in two distinct settings, prevention in industry, and treatment in LBP management. Industrial sites utilize belts for LBPprophylaxis on a large scale with their design and user experience (UE) influencing both the effectiveness and the workers’ compliance. This pilot study aims at determining the effectiveness of the new Tehran Back Belt (TBB) and assesses both UE and biomechanical effect (BE) on para-spinal muscle activity in healthy subjects. Methods: A pretest-posttest study. Stage-1, design and fabrication of the TBB. Stage-2, the UE of the designed belt evaluated in healthy volunteers (n=30) via a checklist. The BE was determined from the level of lumbar extensor and trunk flexor muscle activity gauged during two test conditions of sitting posture (with and without belt) over 35-minute periods. Results: Most subjects (>90%) reported high ‘ease of use’ and ‘comfort’ while wearing the TBB.The BE statistical analysis showed significantly reduced EMG activity levels for the longissimus(P = 0.012, η2=0.24), rectus abdominis (P=0.024, η2=0.18) and internal oblique (P=0.001,η2=0.44) muscles in belt-use conditions. Conclusion: Decreased muscle activity while using the TBB is potentially advantageous for workers as spinal muscle activity is significantly reduced. Further investigations for longer duration effects and during real work office-based activities are warranted.

ANAMT Technical Guideline (DT 05): prevention of occupational low back pain through back belts, lumbar support or braces.

Low back pain is a considerable global public health problem. Use of back belts in occupational settings arises from the expectation of countless biomechanical benefits, which together would contribute to the prevention of this problem. To orient students, physicians and health institutions on the use of back belts, lumbar support or braces for prevention of low back pain or injury among asymptomatic workers. The present guideline was developed based on a systematic literature review; 809 studies were located in database MEDLINE and 571 in EMBASE and Cochrane CENTRAL. Evaluating back-belt use as preventive intervention against low back pain demands quantifying benefits, harms and difficulties to implementation, as well as the methodological quality of primary studies. Despite the weak benefits reflected in the individual, partial and isolated results of a few studies, there is no consistent evidence for the use of back belts, lumbar supports or braces for primary prevention of low back pain or occupational low back injury among workers. According to the available evidence, back-belt use is not associated with reduction of absenteeism.

Knowledge and practice regarding prevention of occupational hazards among traffic policemen in Kathmandu

Occupational health hazards are hazards of exposure to pollution, noise and vibrations in the working environment (ILO). This study aim to find out the knowledge and practice on prevention of occupational health hazards among traffic policemen in Kathmandu valley. A descriptive study employing probability sampling was used to select 282 traffic policemen who were employed in the traffic police stations of Kathmandu. Where Self administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. Data were analyzed by using SPSS such as frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation and chi-square test. Findings depicted that less than half of respondents (40.4%) had fair knowledge on prevention of occupational health hazards. The highest mean percentage score was in the area of effects and prevention of dust or gas about 70%. The level of knowledge was found significant association with age (p=0.029), government provided by safety measures (p=0.021). More than half (54.6%) of respondents had poor preventive practices, such as wearing gloves, back support belts, compression stocking, apply sunscreen cream and wearing ear plug on duty hour. The level of practice was found to have significant association with age group of respondents (p=0.038), sex (p=0.009) and work experience (p=0.048). It is concluded that traffic policemen knowledge regarding prevention of occupational health hazards had fair knowledge but poor preventive practices. This study reveals the need for awareness program for prevention of occupational health hazards among traffic policemen

Low Back Pain among Dentists

Background.- Dentists often experience pain while working, especially in the lower back area. Back pain has been reported to be the most common type of discomfort in all occupational groups. Back pain has been reported to be the most common type of discomfort in all occupational groups. The study investigates the low back pain among dentists. Method -A cross sectional study was conducted among 120 dentists were selected for the study who are in the age group of <30 and above years, in urban areas of the Lucknow district of Uttar Pradesh. Ex- post facto research design was used to obtain and analyze the data. For selection of the respondents, multi stage sampling technique was adopted. A questionnaire was used to investigate the low back pain among dentists. PAS software was used for statistical processing. Descriptive statistics i.e., percentage, mean and ANOVA was used to interpret the data. For multiple responses, percentage was calculated in terms of total responses therefore exceeds 100%. Results: Among 120 dentists, 80% of dentists were suffering from LBP. Conclusion: From the study, it can be concluded that the age of the respondent has an impact on low back pain. Long hours of work and no leisure time made the dentists sit in a restricted posture leading to severe low back pain among dentists. Therefore it is recommended to maintain proper body mechanics and use supportive devices like back belts, knee cap, and chair with back rest during patient care, stretching exercise, promotion of good ergonomic posture and general fitness.

Cintos lombares no ambiente ocupacional: quais são as evidências?

Embora largamente utilizados, a eficácia dos cintos lombares na prevenção de distúrbios da coluna lombar permanece incerta, assim como seus mecanismos de ação, que não foram ainda completamente comprovados, suscitando controvérsia quanto a sua utilização. Deste modo, este estudo teve como objetivo realizar uma revisão crítica da literatura sobre o uso de cintos lombares na prevenção da dor lombar no ambiente ocupacional. Para tanto foram realizadas pesquisas nas seguintes bases de dados: Medline, SciELO e LILACS. Existem evidências que o uso dos cintos lombares reduz as amplitudes de movimento da coluna, entretanto os estudos referentes à pressão intra-abdominal e à atividade muscular apresentam resultados contraditórios, assim como os estudos epidemiológicos, não permitindo, desta forma a recomendação do seu uso na prevenção da dor lombar de origem ocupacional. Com base nesta revisão de literatura sugere-se, portanto a realização de novos estudos, a fim de confirmar ou não a eficácia dos cintos lombares como equipamento de proteção individual na prevenção dos distúrbios lombares de origem ocupacional.

妊娠中の腰痛に対する腰腹部固定帯（トコちゃんベルトTM）の使用について

妊娠中の腰痛に対する腰腹部固定帯（トコちゃんベルトTM）の使用について

Low back disorders: evidence-based prevention and rehabilitation

Chapter 1 Introduction to the Issues Chapter 2 Scientific Approach Unique to This Book Chapter 3 Epidemiological Studies on Low Back Disorders (LBDs) Chapter 4 Functional Anatomy of the Lumbar Spine Chapter 5 Normal and Injury Mechanics of the Lumbar Spine Chapter 6 Lumbar Spine Stability: Myths and Realities Chapter 7 LBD Risk Assessment Chapter 8 Reducing the Risk of Low Back Injury Chapter 9 The Question of Back Belts Chapter 10 Building Better Rehabilitation Programs for Low Back Injuries Chapter 11 Evaluating the Patient Chapter 12 Developing the Exercise Program Chapter 13 Advanced Exercises.

Does wearing a non-expanding weight lifting belt change psychophysically determined maximum acceptable weights and forces

The most frequent and expensive cause category of compensable loss is the manual material handling (MMH). Ergonomic redesign of high-risk MMH tasks is the most effective way to minimize these loses. As an alternative to task redesign, back belts have been promoted by management and used by employees to help alleviate the physical demands of, otherwise, unacceptable tasks, despite a lack of the conclusive evidence that back belts will protect against low-back pain or low-back disability. Also, there is a concern that back belts may give the worker a false sense of confidence and encourage them to explore higher work levels. The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the effects of a back belt with maximum resistance to the circumferential expansion on psychophysically determined maximum acceptable weights (MAWs) and forces (MAFs) for a variety of lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling, and carrying tasks. Ten female and eight male industrial workers performed nine MMH tasks with and without a back belt within a larger study of 56 different tasks, which required 17 four-hour days to complete. A psychophysical methodology was used whereby the subjects were asked to select a workload they could sustain for eight hours without “straining themselves or without becoming unusually tired, weakened, overheated or out of breath.” The results revealed that the MAWs and MAFs of all tasks performed by women and all but one MAF of one task performed by men were not significantly affected by the back belt use. Based on these results, the use of a back belt did not change the perception of the subject's physical demands of the task since they chose similar psychophysically acceptable loads. Back belts are still commonly used in the industry despite lack of evidence that they will provide a decrease in low-back disability. This study illustrated that a worker's perception of the task was not altered by the back belt use, thus a worker's preference for the back belt use when job redesign has been limited or ignored should not be discouraged.

Comparison of low back joint moment using a dynamic 3D biomechanical model in different transferring tasks wearing low back belt

The purpose of this study was to construct a 3D dynamic model to quantify low back load during single person dependent transfer, and to compare the effects of wearing style of a low back belt on low back loading. Of the nine subjects participating in this study, eight adopted the role of caregiver and one was a simulated patient. Tasks were general transfer without either subject wearing a low back belt (WB), transfer with the patient wearing a low back belt (BP), transfer with both subjects wearing low back belts (BB), and transfer with the caregiver wearing a low back belt (BC). Low back lateral and extension moments in BB and BC transfers showed the significantly smaller values than those in WB transfers ( p < 0.01). The results suggest that the wearing of a low back belt by caregivers would reduce low back joint moment during transfers.

Effect of training and lifting equipment for preventing back pain in lifting and handling: systematic review

Objectives To determine whether advice and training on working techniques and lifting equipment prevent back pain in jobs that involve heavy lifting.Data sources Medline, Embase, CENTRAL, Cochrane Back Group’s specialised...

A Second Look at Back Belts

The Back Letter: December 2007 - Volume 22 - Issue 12 - p 138,142 doi: 10.1097/01.BACK.0000319756.21449.7b

A cross-sectional study of back belt use and low back pain amongst forklift drivers

Purpose: To determine the association between back belt usage and back pain amongst forklift drivers exposed to whole-body vibration (WBV). Method: Cross-sectional analytical study design amongst 158 drivers using back belts and 39 controls. Back pain was assessed using a Standardised Nordic Questionnaire for musculoskeletal disorders and WBV was measured on a sample of forklifts as per ISO 2631. Results: Compliance with belt usage was 90%. Eighty-nine percent of drivers reported back pain ever; and back pain after driving was associated with vibration intensity and work area. Belt usage was associated with back pain after driving on multivariate analysis. When restricting analysis to back belt users alone, frequency of usage was associated with increased rates of back pain. Conclusions: In a high WBV-exposed group, back belt usage was not associated with decreased risk of LBP. Users appeared to have increased LBP, although the relationship may be due to selection bias due to non-random assignment of back belt condition. Relevance to industry: back belt use for WBV exposed professional drivers should not be considered as a valid control measure to reduce the prevalence and intensity of LBP.

A Review of the Use of Lifting Belts

summary This manuscript reviews the literature on the effects of the use of back belts in industrial and strength and conditioning applications. Although the results are mixed, the preponderance of evidence supports some use of back belts during resistance training.

A Review of the Use of Lifting Belts

This manuscript reviews the literature on the effects of the use of back belts in industrial and strength and conditioning applications. Although the results are mixed, the preponderance of evidence supports some use of back belts during resistance training.

Geodynamic evolution of the Algerian offshore and its impact on the structural framework and play types

The Algerian offshore extends for over 1200 km from east to west and forms the margin of the Algero-Provençal basin in its eastern part and the margin of the Alboran Sea in its western part. Parallel to this margin, there is a development of the Maghrebides which corresponds to the southern section of the Alpine thrust-belt. The structural polarity of these mountain belts is outward, away from the Mediterranean (southverging). The offshore area includes two elements of the Maghrebides: the thrust belt (inner zones, Petite and Grande Kabylie), and the outer zones west of Algiers and in the far eastern part of the Algerian offshore. Analysis of magnetic maps and seismic sections shows the existence of two different structural zones. The eastern domain shows NW-SE lineaments which accommodate the south-verging thrust of the inner zones over the foreland. These lineaments also accommodate the opening of the South Balearic basin. The western domain is characterised by E-W to NE-SW trends which have allowed the westward displacement of the Alboran block during the middle Miocene. These faults are seismically active at the present time and are associated with Plio-Quaternary volcanism. This difference in structural style is interpreted to have a direct influence on the petroleum play types. In the eastern part, plays occur within the front and back thrust belts, (e.g. Oued Gueterini field). The western zone is characterized by plays associated with strike-slip basins (e.g. Cheliff Basin). The Algerian offshore belongs to the southern margin of the Algero-Provençal and Alboran Basins (Fig. 1). In spite of the existence of seismic data dating from 1969-77, no previous study enabled us to get a clear structural image integrated within the general geologic framework of the Western Mediterranean sea. The acquisition of new seismic data in the Algerian offshore has justified a new structural reinterpretation using more up to date concepts. The main objective was to define the hydrocarbon potential of this offshore area.

Abdominal Belts and Low Back Position Sense

Abdominal belts are sometimes used as a low-cost, low back injury prevention measure in industry. Claims for the effectiveness have suggested that such belts may enhance proprioception and therefore improve low back stability. In this study, this claim was examined by using a previously established low back reposition sense protocol to assess the change in position sense with use of an elastic back belt in both an upright and a flexed posture. The results of this study demonstrate no overall improvement of position sense with back belt. However, significant improvement was observed at a torso flexion angle of 45 degrees. While future studies in other conditions are suggested, this study suggest that back belts may be useful only when highly flexed postures are required for manual materials handling.

The Effects of a Back-Belt on Lumbar Disc Deformation During Stoop Type Lifting

2367 Low-back pain and injury are responsible for a major portion of lost workdays and injury compensation claims. The use of back support belts has been forwarded as a counter measure towards reducing low-back injuries in the industrial setting. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine if a back support belt relieves stresses encountered by the lumbar spine during stoop type lifting and potentially reduce the risk of injury. METHODS: Twelve male subjects (49.7 ± 3.7 years) performed two sessions of stooped type lifting with a loaded milk crate (11.5 kg), at 4 repetitions per minute, for 15 minutes in accordance with the NIOSH lifting equation. One lifting session was performed without a support belt, while the other with a support belt. Three sets of fluoroscopic images were collected with the subjects positioned at the initiation (flexed trunk), mid-range, and completion of the lift (erect standing). The first series of images were collected under a no-load condition, while the second (no support belt) and third series (support belt) of images were collected with the subjects lifting the 11.5 kg milk crate. Images were imported into AutoCAD where lumbar disc deformation and joint angles were measured by calculating changes in position of adjacent vertebra (L3-4 and L4-5). A reduction of disc deformation was deemed indicative of reduced stress. RESULTS: Analysis of variance revealed that compressive and shear disc deformation were reduced while in the erect trunk posture for the support belt condition (p< .05). No significant reduction in disc deformation was detected while in flexed trunk postures for the support belt condition (p>.05). CONCLUSIONS: During stoop type lifting, support belts provide a measurable amount of stress reduction of the lumbar spine when the trunk is in the erect posture, with little effect during flexed trunk positions.Figure

The Effects of a Back-Belt on Lumbar Disc Deformation During Stoop Type Lifting

2367 Low-back pain and injury are responsible for a major portion of lost workdays and injury compensation claims. The use of back support belts has been forwarded as a counter measure towards reducing low-back injuries in the industrial setting. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine if a back support belt relieves stresses encountered by the lumbar spine during stoop type lifting and potentially reduce the risk of injury. METHODS: Twelve male subjects (49.7 ± 3.7 years) performed two sessions of stooped type lifting with a loaded milk crate (11.5 kg), at 4 repetitions per minute, for 15 minutes in accordance with the NIOSH lifting equation. One lifting session was performed without a support belt, while the other with a support belt. Three sets of fluoroscopic images were collected with the subjects positioned at the initiation (flexed trunk), mid-range, and completion of the lift (erect standing). The first series of images were collected under a no-load condition, while the second (no support belt) and third series (support belt) of images were collected with the subjects lifting the 11.5 kg milk crate. Images were imported into AutoCAD where lumbar disc deformation and joint angles were measured by calculating changes in position of adjacent vertebra (L3-4 and L4-5). A reduction of disc deformation was deemed indicative of reduced stress. RESULTS: Analysis of variance revealed that compressive and shear disc deformation were reduced while in the erect trunk posture for the support belt condition (p< .05). No significant reduction in disc deformation was detected while in flexed trunk postures for the support belt condition (p>.05). CONCLUSIONS: During stoop type lifting, support belts provide a measurable amount of stress reduction of the lumbar spine when the trunk is in the erect posture, with little effect during flexed trunk positions.Figure