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ool Furniture as a Risk Factor for Musculoskeletal Pain Among Slovenian
Students
N. Podrekar1,2, M. Burnard1,3 N. Šarabon2
1 InnoRenew CoE, nastja.podrekar@innorenew.eu
2 Faculty of Health Sciences, Universtiy of Primorska, nejc.sarabon@fvz.ups.si
3 Andrej Marusic Institure, University of Primorska, mike.burnard@innorenew.eu
The very first environment where a human is exposed to long-term sitting is school
environment. School furniture could be one of the external risk factors for musculoskeletal
pain among students. The aim of this study was to evaluate school furniture as a risk factor
for musculoskeletal pain among Slovenian students. The study was divided into two parts.
Firstly, a review regarding the student-furniture mismatch was conducted. Secondly, student-
furniture mismatch in Slovenian schools was calculated and correlation between the mismatch
and musculoskeletal pain was evaluated. Students from primary and secondary school, and
from higher educational programs, were included in the study. To calculate the mismatch,
eight anthropometric measures (popliteal height, knee height, thigh thickness, elbow height
sitting, shoulder height sitting, sub-scapular height, hip width, buttock-popliteal length) and
six furniture dimensions (seat height, seat depth, seat width, seat inclination, upper edge of
backrest, sitting desk clearance) were measured. Additionally, students completed the Nordic
Musculoskeletal Questionnaire. The results of the literature review indicate a high student-
furniture mismatch among the existing studies, ranging from 30% to 90 % (Batistão et al., 2012;
van Niekerk et al., 2013). Similarly, the high mismatch was found among Slovenian students
at all educational levels. Further on, ergonomically designed school furniture was proposed
based on the anthropometric data of the students. The high mismatch between the furniture
and students’ anthropometry indicates that there is a need to ergonomically redesign school
furniture in Slovenian schools at all levels. Furthermore, the data obtained could be considered
when designing new school furniture in Slovenia. Studies with larger sample sizes assessing
multiple age groups are desired to better understand the student-furniture mismatch.
Keywords: ergonomics, design, school-furniture mismatch
Acknowledgements: The authors gratefully acknowledge the European Commission for funding
the InnoRenew project (Grant Agreement #739574) under the Horizon2020 Widespread-Teaming
program and the Republic of Slovenia (investment funding from the Republic of Slovenia and
the European Union's European Regional Development Fund).
REFERENCES
Batistão, M.V., Sentanin, A.C., Moriguchi, C.S., Hansson, G.-Å., Coury, H.J.C.G., de Oliveira Sato, T., 2012. Furniture
dimensions and postural overload for schoolchildren’s head, upper back and upper limbs. Work 41 Suppl 1, 4817–24.
https://doi.org/10.3233/WOR-2012-0770-4817
van Niekerk, S.-M., Louw, Q.A., Grimmer-Somers, K., Harvey, J., Hendry, K.J., 2013. The anthropometric match
between high school learners of the Cape Metropole area, Western Cape, South Africa and their computer workstation
at school. Appl. Ergon. 44, 366–371. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2012.09.008
INNORENEW COE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 2020
30
Students
N. Podrekar1,2, M. Burnard1,3 N. Šarabon2
1 InnoRenew CoE, nastja.podrekar@innorenew.eu
2 Faculty of Health Sciences, Universtiy of Primorska, nejc.sarabon@fvz.ups.si
3 Andrej Marusic Institure, University of Primorska, mike.burnard@innorenew.eu
The very first environment where a human is exposed to long-term sitting is school
environment. School furniture could be one of the external risk factors for musculoskeletal
pain among students. The aim of this study was to evaluate school furniture as a risk factor
for musculoskeletal pain among Slovenian students. The study was divided into two parts.
Firstly, a review regarding the student-furniture mismatch was conducted. Secondly, student-
furniture mismatch in Slovenian schools was calculated and correlation between the mismatch
and musculoskeletal pain was evaluated. Students from primary and secondary school, and
from higher educational programs, were included in the study. To calculate the mismatch,
eight anthropometric measures (popliteal height, knee height, thigh thickness, elbow height
sitting, shoulder height sitting, sub-scapular height, hip width, buttock-popliteal length) and
six furniture dimensions (seat height, seat depth, seat width, seat inclination, upper edge of
backrest, sitting desk clearance) were measured. Additionally, students completed the Nordic
Musculoskeletal Questionnaire. The results of the literature review indicate a high student-
furniture mismatch among the existing studies, ranging from 30% to 90 % (Batistão et al., 2012;
van Niekerk et al., 2013). Similarly, the high mismatch was found among Slovenian students
at all educational levels. Further on, ergonomically designed school furniture was proposed
based on the anthropometric data of the students. The high mismatch between the furniture
and students’ anthropometry indicates that there is a need to ergonomically redesign school
furniture in Slovenian schools at all levels. Furthermore, the data obtained could be considered
when designing new school furniture in Slovenia. Studies with larger sample sizes assessing
multiple age groups are desired to better understand the student-furniture mismatch.
Keywords: ergonomics, design, school-furniture mismatch
Acknowledgements: The authors gratefully acknowledge the European Commission for funding
the InnoRenew project (Grant Agreement #739574) under the Horizon2020 Widespread-Teaming
program and the Republic of Slovenia (investment funding from the Republic of Slovenia and
the European Union's European Regional Development Fund).
REFERENCES
Batistão, M.V., Sentanin, A.C., Moriguchi, C.S., Hansson, G.-Å., Coury, H.J.C.G., de Oliveira Sato, T., 2012. Furniture
dimensions and postural overload for schoolchildren’s head, upper back and upper limbs. Work 41 Suppl 1, 4817–24.
https://doi.org/10.3233/WOR-2012-0770-4817
van Niekerk, S.-M., Louw, Q.A., Grimmer-Somers, K., Harvey, J., Hendry, K.J., 2013. The anthropometric match
between high school learners of the Cape Metropole area, Western Cape, South Africa and their computer workstation
at school. Appl. Ergon. 44, 366–371. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2012.09.008
INNORENEW COE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 2020
30
