Healthy, Postural; Strain
Conditions
Keywords
Biofeedback, Surgery, Surgical Resident
Brief summary
While a majority of surgical ergonomic studies have been evaluating attending surgeons, few have evaluated surgical ergonomics within the surgical resident. Biofeedback devices can be partnered with education and geared towards surgical residents to decrease current and future musculoskeletal disorders, which may in turn lead to longer and more fulfilling careers.
Detailed description
This study aims to use a commercially-available posture training device for surgical residents that sends biofeedback in the form of a gentle vibration if posture has deviated from the upright (neutral) position for a long period of time. For residents performing minimally-invasive procedures with a laparoscopic approach, our overarching hypothesis is that the time spent in a non-upright position will be less after using the posture biofeedback device compared with before. The study hypothesizes that residents will report fewer complaints related to musculoskeletal pain after wearing the posture training device. Residents completing general surgery rotations will be recruited and wear a biofeedback device for about four weeks while performing laparoscopic procedures. Posture data from the device and survey data in the form of the Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire (CMDQ) will be collected and analyzed.
Interventions
DEVICEPosture Biofeedback Device
Participants will wear a commercially available posture training device for a two-week tracking period and a two-week training period while performing laparoscopic procedures.
Sponsors
Wake Forest University Health Sciences
Study design
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Surgical residents with surgical experience of at least one year (Postgraduate year 2-5) * Completing a one-month rotation at the study sites within the general surgery department during the study period
Exclusion criteria
* Clinically diagnosed inflammatory musculoskeletal disorders per self-report * History of orthopedic surgery in the last six months per self-report
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Time spent in upright vs non-upright position | week 1 to week 4] | proportion (percentage) of time (minutes) in the upright position relative to the non-upright position during laparoscopic procedures |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in Self-reported musculoskeletal pain score | baseline to week 4 | Complaints related to musculoskeletal pain assessed using the Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire (CMDQ) - measures self-reported musculoskeletal discomfort for all body segments. 1 = low (score 1-2) 2 = moderate (score 3-4) 3 = high (score 5-7) 4 = very high (score 8-10 - higher scores meaning more discomfort |
Countries
United States
Contacts
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORWilliam Sherrill, MD
Wake Forest University Health Sciences
Outcome results
None listed