抄録
Background: Ergonomic hazards are the most important causes of knee osteoarthritis (OA) in aged para rubber farmers. Ergonomic management comprising working condition improvement and muscle strengthening exercise has been well-documented in terms of workers’ health benefit. However, those interventions were not adequate to sustain the advantage. Few studies have demonstrated the effect of integrating participatory ergonomic management (PEM) in Non-Weight-Bearing Exercise (NWE) and Progressive Resistance Exercise (PRE) and none has focused on aged para rubber farmers with knee osteoarthritis. This study investigated the effect of PEM-NWE, PEM-PRE and standard treatment (STG) on self-care and functional ability in the aged population.
Methods: A single-blinded, clustered randomized controlled trial was carried out. Participants (n =75) from 3 different communities in southern Thailand were randomly assigned to PEM -NWE, PEM-PRE, and STG. Self-care and functional ability (pain, stiffness, and physical function) were examined at baseline (B), during the intervention at week 5 (W5) and after its completion at week 9 (W9). Mean comparison of those outcomes overtime was made using Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMM).
Results: Compared to the standard treatment, the means both groups PEM-NWE and PEM-PRE were significantly increased in self-care. However, no significant difference between PEM-NWE and PEM-PRE was found.
Conclusions: Either or both interventions should be incorporated into nursing practice in order to promote occupational health and enhance quality of work life for the Thai aged farmers. The further study on their cost-effectiveness is highly recommended.
