Participatory Intervention Among Construction Workers (IRMA11)

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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There is high prevalence of back pain and neck-shoulder pain among blue collar workers. Physical excessive exposures such as heavy lifting or working with a bended or twisted back are independent risk factors for back pain among workers in the construction industry. Participatory ergonomic initiatives increase the success of interventions aimed at reducing physical excessive exposures. The objectives are in two phases to; 1) determine which work-tasks in selected job-groups involve the highest load of the back and shoulders during a normal working day (using EMG, Actigraphs, Video). 2) investigate whether a participatory intervention can reduce physical workloads, drawing on information from objective measurements from phase 1.

Official Title
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Deltagerinvolverende Intervention Mod Fysiske Risikofaktorer for Muskel- og skeletbesvær i Byggebranchen

Conditions
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Musculoskeletal Disorders

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Participatory Intervention
* Behavioral: Control


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Full time construction workers who are member of a labor union and can read and understand Danish. The type of work must include manual work that involves lifting Exclusion Criteria: life-threatening diseases pregnancy hypertension >160/100 mmHg unable to participate in the measurements

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 67 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Prevention
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Participatory Intervention<br>Participatory intervention with workers and their leaders. Workshops with presentation of work tasks with excessive physical load and subsequently plans to reduce these loads | Behavioral: Participatory Intervention<br> <br> |
| Active Comparator: Control<br>Receive standard information about correct lifting technics, use of assistive technology, and ergonomics | Behavioral: Control<br> <br> |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Excessive physical load | The primary outcome of the present study is the change from baseline to follow-up in frequency of events with excessive physical load | change from baseline to 3 months follow-up | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pain intensity (0-10) | Change in low back pain intensity during the last week from baseline to follow-up. A horizontally oriented modified VAS scale will be used with 11 points from 0 to 10. | change from baseline to 3 months follow-up | 
| WAI questionnaire | Work Ability Index (Ilmarinen et al) | change from baseline to 3 months follow-up | 
| Self-efficacy Questionnaire | Self-efficacy to improve the physical work environment | change from baseline to 3 months follow-up |