Obesity as a Risk Factor for Musculoskeletal Injury During Manual Handling Tasks: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Simple item page
aut.relation.articlenumber106548
aut.relation.endpage106548
aut.relation.journalSafety Science
aut.relation.startpage106548
aut.relation.volume176
dc.contributor.authorBoocock, Mark
dc.contributor.authorNaudé, Yanto
dc.contributor.authorSaywell, Nicola
dc.contributor.authorMawston, Grant
dc.date.accessioned2024-06-07T03:07:52Z
dc.date.available2024-06-07T03:07:52Z
dc.date.issued2024-08
dc.description.abstractObesity is a growing health concern worldwide and musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) are the leading cause of injury, disability, and work-related sickness absence globally. A systematic literature review and meta-analysis was undertaken to investigate the effects of increased body weight on the biomechanical, physiological, and psychophysical responses to manual handling. Methods A literature search was conducted on five electronic databases (EBSCO Health, SCOPUS, OVID (AMED), ProQuest, Google Scholar) that followed the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis) guidelines. Studies were included if they investigated a manual handling activity comparing responses of obese/overweight adults to those with a healthy body weight. Included studies had to report on at least one biomechanical, physiological, or psychophysical outcome measure. The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Critical Appraisal Tool was used to assess risk of bias (RoB) and methodological quality. A narrative synthesis of the findings was conducted and where possible, a meta-analysis was performed using random-effects models. Results Eighteen cross-sectional studies met the inclusion criteria. Participants were predominately male (22% female) and were primarily classified into obese, overweight, or healthy body weight based on their body mass index (BMI). A task involving symmetrical box lifting was the most frequently performed activity. Pooled estimates of effect sizes suggest obesity increases the horizontal reach distance when lifting, and repetitive lifting leads to higher heart rates compared with healthy weight participants. There was moderate evidence of increased moments and compression forces in the lower spine. Factors unaffected by obesity were knee flexion and perceived estimates of the maximum acceptable weight of lift (MAWL). Conclusions Differences in the kinematics and kinetics of lifting between obese or overweight handlers and those of a healthier weight, suggest that approaches to preventing and managing work-related musculoskeletal conditions should consider a worker’s body weight when designing workplaces, work practices, and training. To develop appropriate interventions, more high-quality studies are needed involving a range of industry and service sector handling tasks.
dc.identifier.citationSafety Science, ISSN: 0925-7535 (Print), Elsevier BV, 176, 106548-106548. doi: 10.1016/j.ssci.2024.106548
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.ssci.2024.106548
dc.identifier.issn0925-7535
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10292/17628
dc.languageen
dc.publisherElsevier BV
dc.relation.urihttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925753524001383
dc.rights© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
dc.rights.accessrightsOpenAccess
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subject4201 Allied Health and Rehabilitation Science
dc.subject4206 Public Health
dc.subject42 Health Sciences
dc.subjectClinical Research
dc.subjectObesity
dc.subjectPrevention
dc.subjectNutrition
dc.subjectMetabolic and endocrine
dc.subjectStroke
dc.subjectCancer
dc.subjectCardiovascular
dc.subjectOral and gastrointestinal
dc.subject09 Engineering
dc.subject11 Medical and Health Sciences
dc.subject17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences
dc.subjectHuman Factors
dc.subject40 Engineering
dc.subject42 Health sciences
dc.subject52 Psychology
dc.titleObesity as a Risk Factor for Musculoskeletal Injury During Manual Handling Tasks: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
dc.typeJournal Article
pubs.elements-id555268
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Obesity as a risk factor for musculoskeletal injury during manual handling tasks.pdf
Size:
2.28 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Journal article
Download
Collections
School of Clinical Sciences - Te Kura Mātai Haumanu