Iran Occupational Health

  Background and aims: prolongedstanding without significantmoving is a requirement of many jobs and is a known factor of causing musculoskeletal disorders that cause pain and discomfort in lower extremitiesand back discomfort.The purposeofthisstudy was to comparethe effects of cerami c surface,flooring andfootreston discomfort and muscle fatigue lower extremities during long- standing activities.

  Methods : Thiscross-sectional study was carried out on15 student s with mean(SD) age of 21.5 ± (2.3 ) andmean height of 163± (2.8). Participants attended 3 sessions each lasting one hours. They stood on threedifferentsurfaces: ceramic, rubber flooringandfootrest.Surfaceelectromyographywas usedto assess themuscle fatigue. Body map and visual analog scale were employed to evaluate discomfort ratings of the lower extremitiesand the back . Dataanalyzseswere performedusingANOVA -R.

  Results: Based onthe results ofelectromyography, there was no significant difference between soleus and lateral gastrocnemius muscles fatigue and type of surfaces.

  There wasa significant differencebetween thesurfaces(p<0.05) and different areas of the body discomfort level so that the ceramic had the highest discomfort rating, while the lowest ratings were related to footrest.

  Conclusion : The resultsindicatethat usingthefootrest and standing on rubberflooringare effective solutionsfor reducinglegdiscomfort.Further investigations are recommended onthe properties of ergonomicflooring and footrest .