ORCID Profile
0000-0002-1111-1799
Current Organisation
University of Zurich
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Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 27-09-2022
DOI: 10.1007/S10926-022-10069-0
Abstract: Purpose Neck pain is common among office workers and leads to work productivity loss. This study aimed to investigate the effect of a multi-component intervention on neck pain-related work productivity loss among Swiss office workers. Methods Office workers, aged 18–65 years, and without serious neck-related health problems were recruited from two organisations for our stepped-wedge cluster randomized controlled trial. The 12-week multi-component intervention included neck exercises, health-promotion information, and workplace ergonomics. The primary outcome of neck pain-related work productivity loss was measured using the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire and expressed as percentages of working time. In addition, we reported the weekly monetary value of neck pain-related work productivity loss. Data was analysed on an intention-to-treat basis using a generalized linear mixed-effects model. Results Data from 120 participants were analysed with 517 observations. At baseline, the mean age was 43.7 years (SD 9.8 years), 71.7% of participants were female ( N = 86), about 80% ( N = 95) reported mild to moderate neck pain, and neck pain-related work productivity loss was 12% of working time (absenteeism: 1.2%, presenteeism: 10.8%). We found an effect of our multi-component intervention on neck pain-related work productivity loss, with a marginal predicted mean reduction of 2.8 percentage points ( b = −0.27 95% CI: −0.54 to −0.001, p = 0.049). Weekly saved costs were Swiss Francs 27.40 per participant. Conclusions: Our study provides evidence for the effectiveness of a multi-component intervention to reduce neck pain-related work productivity loss with implications for employers, employees, and policy makers. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04169646. Registered 15 November 2019—Retrospectively registered, t2/show/NCT04169646 .
Publisher: JMIR Publications Inc.
Date: 06-05-2019
DOI: 10.2196/11492
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-04-2021
DOI: 10.1007/S00586-021-06829-W
Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of working from home on neck pain (NP) among office workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants from two Swiss organisations, aged 18–65 years and working from home during the lockdown ( n = 69) were included. Baseline data collected in January 2020 before the lockdown (office work) were compared with follow-up data in April 2020 during lockdown (working from home). The primary outcome of NP was assessed with a measure of intensity and disability. Secondary outcomes were quality of workstation ergonomics, number of work breaks, and time spent working at the computer. Two linear mixed effects models were fitted to the data to estimate the change in NP. No clinically relevant change in the average NP intensity and neck disability was found between measurement time points. Each working hour at the computer increased NP intensity by 0.36 points (95% CI: 0.09 to 0.62) indicating strong evidence. No such effect was found for neck disability. Each work break taken reduced neck disability by 2.30 points (95% CI: − 4.18 to − 0.42, evidence). No such effect was found for NP intensity. There is very strong evidence that workstation ergonomics was poorer at home. The number of work breaks and hours spent at the computer seem to have a greater effect on NP than the place of work (office, at home), measurement time point (before COVID-19, during lockdown) or the workstation ergonomics. Further research should investigate the effect of social and psychological factors. ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04169646. Registered 15 November 2019—Retrospectively registered, t2/show/NCT04169646 .
Publisher: JMIR Publications Inc.
Date: 05-07-2018
Abstract: ufficient s le size and minimal s le bias are core requirements in empirical data analyses. Combining opportunistic recruitment with an online survey and data collection platform yields new benefits compared to traditional recruitment approaches. he objective of this paper is to report on the success of different recruitment methods to obtain participants’ characteristics, participation behavior, recruitment rates, and representativeness of the s le. longitudinal online survey was implemented as part of the European PASTA project, which was online between November 2014 and December 2016. During this period participants in seven European cities were recruited on a rolling basis. For all cities to reach a sufficient number of adult participants a standardized guide on recruitment strategy was developed. In order to make use of the strengths and to minimize weakness a combination of different opportunistic recruitment methods was applied. In addition, the city of Oerebro applied random s ling approach. In order to reduce attrition rate and improve real-time monitoring the online platform featured a participant and a researchers` user interface and dashboard. total of 10,691 participants were recruited. Most people found out about the survey through their workplace or employer (21.5 %), outreach promotion (20.8 %), and social media (17.4 %). The average number of questionnaires filled-in per participant varied between the cities, with the highest number in Zurich (11.0 ± 0.33) and the lowest in Oerebro (4.8 ± 0.17). Collaboration with local organizations, the use of Facebook and mailing lists, and direct street recruitment were the most effective approaches in reaching a high share of participants (p = .001). Under consideration of invested working hours Facebook (p = .001) was one of the most time-efficient methods. Compared to the cities census data, the composition of study participants was broadly representative in terms of gender distribution, however included younger and better educated participants. e observed that offering a mixed recruitment approach was very effective in achieving a high participation rate. The highest attrition rate and the lowest average number of questionnaires filled-in per participant were observed in Oerebro, who also recruited participants through random s ling. The findings suggest that people that are more interested in the topic are more willing to participate and to stay in a survey than those who are selected randomly and may not have a strong connection to the research topic. Whereas direct face-to-face contacts were very effective with respect to the number of recruited participants recruiting people through social media was not only effective, but also very time-efficient. The collected data is based on one of the largest recruited longitudinal s les with a common recruitment strategy in different European cities.
No related grants have been discovered for Manja Deforth.