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PubMed2000

Postural analysis of paramedics simulating frequently performed strenuous work tasks.

Paramedics who perform emergency rescue functions are highly susceptible to musculoskeletal injuries. Through an interview and survey process firefighters, many of whom are cross-trained paramedics in a consortium of 14 suburban fire departments, identified and rated tasks that were perceived to be both strenuous and frequently performed. The objective of the current study was to describe the working postures and the forces applied as firefighter/paramedics (FF/Ps) simulated specific roles within the following tasks identified by the survey: (1) transferring a patient from a bed to a stretcher using bedsheets, (2) transferring a patient from the ambulance stretcher to a hospital gurney, (3) carrying a victim down a set of stairs and around a landing using a stairchair, (4) carrying a victim down a set of stairs and around a landing using a backboard, and (5) carrying a victim down a set of stairs using a stretcher. Ten two-person teams of FF/Ps participated and were videotaped to obtain postural data for the upper and lower extremities as they performed each role in the simulated two-person tasks. Trunk postures were obtained using lumbar motion monitors. Static hand forces were estimated using a hand-held dynamometer at the most physically demanding points for each role within each task. The postural and force data were averaged across subjects performing identical roles to quantify the postures assumed by the FF/Ps at the most strenuous moments during task performance. Based on these analyses we concluded that: (1) when transferring victims from a bed to a stretcher the FF/P on the bed was able to maintain an upright and more stable posture by standing as opposed to kneeling, (2) an interface board should be used to reduce the frictional forces when transferring victims from a bed to a stretcher or from a stretcher to a gurney, thereby reducing the need to lift the victim with flexed torsos and/or shoulders, and (3) equipment and training that encourages the FF/P in the leader role to walk facing forward during victim transport, especially when descending stairs, potentially results in safer transit.

Allied Health Personnel↗
PubMed1991

Occupational demand and human rights. Public safety officers and cardiorespiratory fitness.

The issue of discrimination in physically demanding employment, such as police, firefighters, prison guards and military personnel, is contentious. In terms of oxygen transport, the 'action limit' (calling for personnel selection or task redesign) is a steady oxygen consumption of 0.7 L/min, while the maximum permissible limit is 2.1 L/min. Note is taken of the commonly expressed belief that public safety duties are physically demanding, calling for personnel with an aerobic power of at least 3 L/min, or 42 to 45 ml/kg/min. The actual demands of such work can be assessed on small samples by physiological measurements (using heart rate or oxygen consumption meters), but the periods sampled may not be typical of a normal day. A Gestalt can also be formed as to the heaviness of a given job, or a detailed task analysis can be performed; most such analyses of public safety work list distance running and other aerobic activities infrequently. An arbitrary requirement of 'above average fitness' is no longer accepted by courts, but a further approach is to examine the characteristics of those currently meeting the demands of public safety jobs satisfactorily. Young men commonly satisfy the 3 L/min standard, but this is not usually the case for women or older men; in the case of female employees, it also seems unreasonable that they should be expected to satisfy the same standards as men, since a lower body mass reduces the energy cost of most of the tasks that they must perform. A second criterion sometimes applied to physically demanding work (a low vulnerability to heart attacks) is examined critically. It is concluded that the chances that a symptom-free public safety officer will develop a heart attack during a critical solo mission are so low that cardiac risk should not be a condition of employment. Arbitrary age- and sex-related employment criteria are plainly discriminatory, since some women and 65-year-old men have higher levels of physical fitness than the average young man of 25 years. Neither laboratory nor field tests offer a satisfactory means of distinguishing such individuals, and the only equitable basis of selecting personnel for physically demanding work seems a probationary period of employment.

Cardiovascular Diseases↗
PubMed2001

Static and dynamic myoelectric measures of shoulder muscle fatigue during intermittent dynamic exertions of low to moderate intensity.

Despite extensive research on muscular fatigue during prolonged static efforts, there have been relatively few studies of more complex tasks (dynamic and intermittent). A laboratory study of overhead work tasks was conducted to investigate whether electromyographic (EMG) measures can potentially serve as indicators of fatigue, particularly for ergonomic tasks analysis. Sixteen participants performed the tasks until they either developed substantial discomfort or reached a 3-h limit. EMG signals were obtained at intervals throughout the experiment from four shoulder muscles, both statically (during fixed-level test contractions) and dynamically (during task performance). Both EMG root mean square (RMS) amplitude and spectral content (mean and median power frequencies) were examined and compared in terms of their variability and sensitivity. In addition, a new fatigue index was developed to allow for the estimation of substantial fatigue onset. Variability was found to differ significantly between muscles and EMG measures, and was generally lowest for mean power frequencies obtained during static test contractions. Sensitivity was typically greatest for RMS versus spectral measures, and slightly higher for median than mean power frequencies. The results suggest that fatigue during dynamic tasks, while a complex phenomenon, can be monitored and quantified using EMG.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

The effect of electronic record keeping and transesophageal echocardiography on task distribution, workload, and vigilance during cardiac anesthesia.

BACKGROUND: Electronic anesthesia record keeping (EARK) systems increasingly are used in the operating room, but studies have only recently begun to investigate their effect on anesthesia task performance. Teak analysis, workload assessment, and vigilance assessment techniques were used to study senior residents providing anesthesia for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) procedures. The impact on anesthesia residents' workload of the routine use of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) also was examined. METHODS: Before each case, the record keeping system was randomly selected as either electronic (Distek ARKIVE; EARK) or traditional manual recording (MAN). Twenty CABG procedures (10 EARK and 10 MAN) were examined, with observation commencing with anesthetic induction and terminating on initiation of cardiopulmonary bypass. The activities of each resident, divided into 32 task categories (e.g., "laryngoscopy," "observe monitors," etc.), were recorded by a trained observer using a computer. The response latency to a randomly activated alarm light was used as a measure of vigilance ("vigilance latency"). Workload was rated by subject and observer at random 10- to 15-min intervals throughout the case. Data analysis included calculation of workload density (number of tasks/min multiplied by task-specific workload values) and task-links (relationship between sequential tasks). RESULTS: The two groups had a similar distribution of tasks before intubation. In only 4 of the 20 cases studied did any manual record keeping occur before intubation. After intubation, the EARK group spent less time record keeping and using the TEE but more time observing the monitors and conversing with the attending physician than the MAN group did. All subjects reported significantly higher workload scores before intubation compared with after intubation. Similarly, vigilance latency was greater before intubation compared with after intubation (57 vs. 31 s; P < 0.001). There were no significant differences between the two record keeping groups in subjective workload scores, workload density, or vigilance latency. During TEE use, vigilance latency was significantly longer, and workload density was greater than during other monitoring or recording tasks. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides an objective description of the task distribution and workload during the administration of anesthesia for cardiac surgery. Under the conditions of this study. EARK use modestly decreased the time spent record keeping during the postintubation prebypass period. However, there was no effect of EARK either on vigilance or several measures of workload. TEE use was associated with increased workload and possibly decreased vigilance.

Anesthesiology↗
PubMed1975

A study of the validity of the task inventory method of job analysis.

To enhance the efficient utilization of health providers, medical care researchers are increasingly concerned with the measurement of task performance. One job analysis methodology that is widely used is the task inventory technique, characterized by retrospective self-reporting. The purpose of this study was to validate the task inventory method by using the observational technique. Two data collection instruments were developed, a Task Inventory and an Observer Check List; both contained the same set of task statements. Trained observers shadowed 13 primary care physicians in their offices for one week recording the frequency and duration of task performance on the Observer Check Lists. At the end of the week, the 13 physicians completed a Task Inventory indicating how often they had performed each task in their offices and how long it normally took. The observers' and physicians' respective sets of data were analyzed to determine the degree of agreement. The results indicate that the agreement is not sufficient between the task data obtained by the two different methods to conclude that one is substitutable for the other. The validity of the Task Inventory method is therefore not supported by the results.

Evaluation Studies as Topic↗
PubMed1990

Achievement motivation, performance and cardiovascular activity.

Cardiovascular measures were obtained from 40 subjects differing in level of achievement motivation during the performance of a vigilance task. Analysis of interbeat interval and heart rate variability indicated that cardiovascular measures obtained from low achievers did not differ significantly from pre-test measures during the performance of the task, while the measures from high achievers did. In addition, the performance of high achievers was significantly better than the performance of low achievers. It is suggested that these findings indicate that high achievers are marked by the effort they expend in performance and that such effort is reflected in the cardiovascular activity of such subjects.

Achievement↗
PubMed2002

Sustained attention and inhibition of cognitive interference in treated phenylketonuria: associations with concurrent and lifetime phenylalanine concentrations.

Fifty-seven 7-14-year-old early- and continuously treated phenylketonuria (PKU) patients and 65 matched controls performed a sustained attention task. PKU patients with plasma phenylalanine (phe) levels higher than 360 micromol/l at the time of testing exhibited, compared to controls, lower speed of information processing, a lower ability to inhibit task-induced cognitive interference, less consistent performance, and a stronger decrease of performance level over time. Patients with concurrent phe levels lower than 360 micromol/l did not differ from controls and were significantly better than patients with levels higher than 360 micromol/l. Strong relationships were found with task performance for phe levels during the pre-school years and between ages 5 and 7. These correlations were stronger than those between concurrent phe level and task performance. Significant multiple regression models were found with age accounting for the largest proportion of variance of tempo and tempo fluctuation, and lifetime phe levels (particularly phe level between ages 5 and 7) accounting for the largest proportion of variance of the relative number of inhibition errors and its increase over time. Phe level between ages 5 and 7 also contributed significantly to the variance of tempo and tempo fluctuation. Neuropsychological outcome was independent of IQ. The results indicate that strict dietary adherence during these periods is beneficial to attentional control later in life. We suggest that phe levels should be maintained under 360 micromol/l until approximately age 12, when development of attentional control approaches an adult level.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Performance of concurrent tasks: a psychophysiological analysis of the reciprocity of information-processing resources.

The resources allocated to a primary and secondary task are reciprocal. Subjects performed a tracking task in which the discrete displacements of the tracking cursor could be used to elicit event-related brain potentials. As the resource demands of the tracking task were increased, potentials elicited by the task-defined events increased in amplitude, whereas those elicited by secondary task auditory stimuli decreased.

Evoked Potentials↗
PubMed1994

Adult age differences in long-term memory for performed activities.

Participants in two studies conducted by Salthouse (in press) were called 2 to 182 days after participation and asked to describe the activities that they had performed in the previous study. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to examine the prediction of activity recall from age, speed, and retention interval. Overall, age was associated with 20% of the variance in activity recall, and retention interval was associated with 19%, but there was no significant interaction of age and retention interval. When perceptual speed was entered into the regression equation before age, the age-related variance was reduced by 70%. A small, but statistically significant, amount of age-related variance in activity memory remained after controlling for speed and retention interval.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Four assessment tools of ergonomics interventions: case study at an electric utility's warehouse system.

An ergonomics program was developed in a Midwestern electric utility warehouse system. Tasks problematic with respect to work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) affecting both the back and upper extremities were identified and engineering controls were implemented. Quantitative analysis was performed on each task before and after ergonomics intervention to evaluate exposure to the risk of WMSDs. Four methods were used to evaluate the risk of exposure to injury before and after ergonomics intervention: the 1991 National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) lifting equation, the Static Strength Prediction Program, the Lumbar Motion Monitor, and the Borg psychophysical assessment of effort. Results from applying these four methods to the reengineered tasks showed that the probability of low-back disorder risk factors was reduced by as much as 29%, the percentage of people capable of performing tasks was increased by as much as 90%, the NIOSH Lifting Index was reduced from above 2.0 to less than 2.0, and the psychophysical assessment of effort was consistently reduced from the "heavy or strong" range to the "light or moderate" range.

Back Injuries↗
PubMed1994

The revised NIOSH lifting guidelines. Application in a hospital setting.

1. Ergonomic interventions, which include the application of biomechanical models, are an integral part of a workplace injury control program. 2. The NIOSH 1991 Lifting Guide is an example of a biomechanical model. It is utilized as an assessment tool in the ergonomic analysis of a task performed by hospital nursing personnel. 3. The risk for musculoskeletal injury is quantified from the analysis. Economically feasible modifications to the task are outlined to reduce the associated lifting hazards.

Back Pain↗
PubMed1982

Effects of leader contingent and noncontingent reward and punishment behaviors on subordinate performance and satisfaction.

This study investigated the nature of the relationships between leader reward and punishment behaviors and subordinate performance and satisfaction. Only performance-contingent reward behavior was found to affect subordinate performance significantly. Positive relationships were found between leader contingent reward behavior and employee satisfaction. Contingent punishment had no effects on subordinate performance or satisfaction.

Employee Discipline↗
PubMed1999

Test anxiety versus academic skills: a comparison of two alternative models for predicting performance in a statistics exam.

BACKGROUND: Two competing theoretical models to explain academic performance were proposed. The interference model stresses the detrimental effect of task-irrelevant thoughts during the test-taking situation whereas the deficit model suggests Study Habits and domain-specific skills as main predictors of test performance. AIMS: The study compares the two models by determining the relative contribution of Test Anxiety, Study Habits, and Maths Skill to performance in a statistics exam. SAMPLE: Sixty-six undergraduate students who were enrolled in the first semester of two parallel introductory statistic courses participated in the study. METHOD: Hierarchical regression analyses were performed on the performance in the final statistics exam. The unique variance attributable to Test Anxiety, Study Habits, and Maths Skill was calculated. RESULTS: Both Maths Skill and Test Anxiety added unique variance in explaining performance, whereas Study Habits did not. Although Maths Skill emerged as relatively more important than Test Anxiety, a purely deficit-based account nevertheless appears untenable because interfering effects of Test Anxiety during the examination also contributed an important portion of variance. CONCLUSIONS: It is recommended that cognitive-attentional accounts stressing test anxiety be supplemented by a deficit formulation, and that multimodal counselling address both Test Anxiety and skill deficits. COMMENT: Methodological problems in investigating the causal relationship between skill deficits, anxiety, and performance are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

The contribution of anthropometric characteristics to performance scores in elite female gymnasts.

BACKGROUND: Aims of this study were: a) to identify anthropometric variables correlated with gymnastic performance, and b) to predict performance scores from a combination of anthropometric dimensions. METHODS EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: correlational analysis and a stepwise multiple regression were used. SETTING: Subjects were participants at the 24th World Championships Artistic Gymnastics, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, in 1987. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 168 female gymnasts (mean age: 16.5 +/- 1.8 years) were investigated. Each gymnast participated in all events. MEASURES: An extensive battery of anthropometric dimensions was taken on each athlete. The somatotype was estimated. Skeletal maturation of the hand-wrist was assessed. Competition scores for the four individual gymnastic events (balance beam, floor exercise, vault, uneven bars) and a composite score for each gymnast were the dependent variables. RESULTS: Moderately high, significant correlations (p < 0.01) were observed between skinfolds and endomorphy, and gymnastics performance scores, r varying from -0.38 to -0.60, for biceps skinfold and the score on balance beam, and for endomorphy and the total score, respectively. The correlations suggest that gymnasts with more subcutaneous fat and higher endomorphy have lower performance scores. About 32% to 45% of the variance in gymnastic performance scores could be explained by anthropometric dimensions and/or derived variables, but endomorphy and chronological age are the most important predictors. CONCLUSIONS: There is a relatively strong relationship between several anthropometric variables and gymnastic performance in a sample of elite female gymnasts, but the associations are not sufficiently high to predict performance scores on an individual basis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Applied cognitive task analysis (ACTA): a practitioner's toolkit for understanding cognitive task demands.

Cognitive task analysis (CTA) is a set of methods for identifying cognitive skills, or mental demands, needed to perform a task proficiently. The product of the task analysis can be used to inform the design of interfaces and training systems. However, CTA is resource intensive and has previously been of limited use to design practitioners. A streamlined method of CTA, Applied Cognitive Task Analysis (ACTA), is presented in this paper. ACTA consists of three interview methods that help the practitioner to extract information about the cognitive demands and skills required for a task. ACTA also allows the practitioner to represent this information in a format that will translate more directly into applied products, such as improved training scenarios or interface recommendations. This paper will describe the three methods, an evaluation study conducted to assess the usability and usefulness of the methods, and some directions for future research for making cognitive task analysis accessible to practitioners. ACTA techniques were found to be easy to use, flexible, and to provide clear output. The information and training materials developed based on ACTA interviews were found to be accurate and important for training purposes.

Cognition↗
PubMed2000

Performance with tables and graphs: effects of training and a Visual Search Model.

After more than 70 years of research it is still not clear under what conditions graphic presentations of information have an advantage over tables. A minimum assumption Visual Search Model (VSM) was designed to predict the performance of various tasks with tables and graphs that show data with different levels of complexity. An experiment tested the performance of five tasks with tables, bargraphs and line-graphs, showing data with various levels of complexity, over the course of nine experimental sessions in order to assess possible changes in the relative efficiency of the displays after practice. Tables had an initial advantage over graphs for all tasks, and there were complex interactions between the variables. The initial differences between the displays disappeared for some tasks after users gained experience with the displays, while for other tasks the differences continued to exist even after extended practice. The VSM predicted the results for tables well. For graphs the model was adequate for tasks that involve single data points, such as reading values or comparing pairs of values. The performance of tasks that require the analysis of data configurations, such as reading a trend, could not be predicted with the VSM. Hence the VSM can predict task performance with tables and graphs for low-integration tasks.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Training in virtual and real environments.

Transfer of training between real and virtual environments was examined using a pick-and place task with two different difficulty levels. The task was to minimize the time to move cans from one color coded location in the first row to the same color coded location in the back row and then to reverse the process. In the first task, the front and back disk colors were aligned, and in the second disk order, the front and back disk colors were randomly placed on the table. Subjects trained in one environment were then tested in the other and their performance compared with that of subjects being trained in that environment. Some virtual world-trained subjects showed small but significant improvement in performance compared with the untrained subjects for the real world task for both disk arrangements. The differences in performance between the two groups decreased with trial number until no difference was seen at the end of the sessions. None of the real world-trained subjects showed any significant improvement when performing the task in the virtual world compared with the untrained subjects. These results suggest that transfer-of-training from virtual to real world tasks can take place under certain conditions.

Adult↗