Ignite Creation Date:
2024-10-26 @ 3:36 PM
Last Modification Date:
2024-10-26 @ 3:36 PM
Study NCT ID:
NCT06534203
Status:
RECRUITING
Last Update Posted:
None
First Post:
2024-06-03
Brief Title:
Physical Task Demands of Caregivers Working in a Long-Term Care Facility
Sponsor:
None
Organization:
None
Study Overview
Official Title:
An Investigation of the Physical Task Demands of Caregivers Working in a Long-Term Care Facility in New Brunswick
Status:
RECRUITING
Status Verified Date:
2024-07
Last Known Status:
None
Delayed Posting:
No
If Stopped, Why?:
Not Stopped
Has Expanded Access:
No
If Expanded Access, NCT#:
N/A
Has Expanded Access, NCT# Status:
N/A
Acronym:
None
Brief Summary:
Providing care to residents and patients significantly contributes to work-related injuries among healthcare personnel particularly those responsible for transferring and handling residents who face a higher risk of injury due to the physical demands of their work and other environmental factors
The purpose of this project is to better understand the daily work requirements identify their physical demands and assess injury risk of caregivers Data will be collected using a new pen-and-paper-based ergonomic surveying tool a series of questionnaires and measurements of physiological demands such as heart rate and galvanic skin response
Collecting this data will enable the investigators and others to create new interventions better tailored to this working population with a focus on injury prevention These interventions may include warm-up routines stretching exercises training programs andor technological advancements
The purpose of this project is to better understand the daily work requirements identify their physical demands and assess injury risk of caregivers Data will be collected using a new pen-and-paper-based ergonomic surveying tool a series of questionnaires and measurements of physiological demands such as heart rate and galvanic skin response
Collecting this data will enable the investigators and others to create new interventions better tailored to this working population with a focus on injury prevention These interventions may include warm-up routines stretching exercises training programs andor technological advancements
Detailed Description:
PurposesObjectives
The overall aim of this study is to establish a database on the physical requirements of caregivers working in long-term care homes
This study will highlight the support needed for caregivers in long term care facilities aiming to improve their working conditions through interventions and strategies that ensure their physical and mental well-being
Research Questions
The research question for this study is as follows
1 What are the physicalmusculoskeletal demands and motor movement patterns performed by caregivers in residential settings and what does a typical workday entail for this population
2 Is there a significant increase in perceived discomfort levels among caregivers throughout their workday
3 What are the lifestyle habits of caregivers and what is the prevalence and history of musculoskeletal injuries among caregivers
4 Is there an increase in the fluctuations of their stress levels and heart rate throughout their workday
Hypotheses
The hypotheses for this study are as follows
1 Caregivers spend a significant portion of their workday transferring residents or engaging in various repetitive motor tasks
2 Caregivers experience significant increases in perceived discomfort in most areas of the body which will be exacerbated throughout their shift
3 There will be a correlation between lifestyle habits and injury history among caregivers
4 Physiological stress levels will increase over the course of a caregivers workday
Introduction
One of the key objectives of this study is to identify the physical demands and requirements of caregivers working in long-term care facilities The first step involved creating an ergonomic tool tailored to the assessment of caregivers See appendix A This tool enables the recording of various motor tasks behaviors and habits performed repetitively during a typical workday Additionally it facilitates the quantification of data to gain a better understanding of the physical demands of their work This tool will allow investigators to determine the total time spent on specific motor tasks during a workday for this population
In conjunction with the ergonomic tool the investigators will administer questionnaires to gather information on lifestyle habits work-related injury history perceptions of job-related physical demands using the Health and Lifestyle Questionnaire and levels of discomfort during a workday using the Rate of Perceived Discomfort Questionnaire RPD-Q Additionally physiological changes such as galvanic skin response and heart rate fluctuations will be recorded during data collection to monitor caregivers physiological responses throughout the workday This research approach will provide a comprehensive overview of the physical demands and injury risks amongst caregivers working in a long-term care facility Collecting this data will enable researchers and others in creating new interventions better tailored to this working population such as warm-up routines stretching exercises training programs andor technological advancements
Methods
This study employs mixed methods research gathering both quantitative and qualitative data to comprehensively understand the issues surrounding Work Related Musculoskeletal Injuries WRMSI among caregivers in long-term care facilities in New Brunswick
30 full-time caregivers from the York Care Center Nursing Home in Fredericton Kenneth E Spencer Memorial Nursing Home in Moncton and Westford Nursing Home in Port Elgin will be recruited for this research project
The participants will be caregivers working with residents with a level three classification This means that the residents require constant supervision may or may not be living with a stable chronic condition and require assistance with personal care sanitation and mobility All participants will be assessed for an 8 to 12-hour workday in a single experimental session
The equipment used in this study includes
1 A newly developed Pen-and-Paper based Ergonomic monitoring tool designed by the researchers to identify the physical demands of caregivers work will be utilized in this study see appendix A The main objective of this research is to identify the different motor tasks transfer procedures positions and behaviors that pose risks of developing WRMSI in caregivers The researchers will monitor and manually input each task performed by the caregivers
2 The Rate of Perceived Discomfort Questionnaire RPD-Q see appendix B will be administered to track the progression of caregivers discomfort during their workday The RPD-Q is a self-reported questionnaire with a 100-point visual analogue scale that indicates the level of discomfort relative to specific body parts A scale of point 0 corresponds to no discomfort and point 100 represents the worst discomfort imaginable each point is the equivalent of one millimeter Twenty-four different body parts will be measured in the RPD questionnaire on both the right and left sides of the body The RPD questionnaire will be administered 3 times throughout the shift Prior to the start of the shift at the midpoint and at the end of the caregivers workday Recording the RPD questionnaire at these specific timepoints will provide a snapshot on how discomfort levels develop throughout a typical working shift
3 A questionnaire on lifestyle habits and work-related injury history see appendix C will be administered during data collection to gain insights into current lifestyle and previous workplace injury history of participants The questionnaire is composed of short-answer multiple-choice and open-ended questions that can be used as a journal during data collection The HL questionnaire will be filled out once during the workday of data collection The objective of this questionnaire is to further understand the relationship between current lifestyle of the workers and the development of workplace injuries The questionnaire is divided into three different subsections
The amount of time spent in sedentary behavior the amount of physical activity performed and the amount of alcohol and tobacco consumed by participants in a typical week
The number of years of experience in the sector and participants subjective perception of the physical demands imposed by their work
The occurrence or non-occurrence of persistent work-related musculoskeletal injuries or discomfort and the limitations these injuries impose on individuals ability to work and their overall well-being
4 Physiological Measures An Empatica EmbracePlus watch a galvanic skin response system will be used to assess and quantify the participants stress levels throughout their workday Additionally the Polar H10 heart rate monitor will enable the observation of caregivers heart rate fluctuations during their workday Data collection will follow a baseline measurement of participants heart rate and stress level which will be taken after 5 minutes in a seated position in a quiet area and with eyes closed prior to the start of their shift Field notes will also be taken to facilitate the identification of the periods of the day when physiological stress levels are highest during data collection
Statistical AnalysisData Processing
Descriptive Statistics
Descriptive statistics using the software IMB SPSS Version 29 mean median standard deviation etc will be used to evaluate quantitative values derived from the newly developed ergonomic tool
Cross Correlations
A series of cross correlations will be run on the Health and Lifestyle Questionnaire to identify correlations between different Work-Related Musculoskeletal Injury WRMSI risk factors The correlation coefficient will enable the investigators to identify whether the relationships are inversely proportional or directly proportional For example it will be possible to examine the correlation between physical activity levels and WRMSI history as well as whether there is a relationship between increases in smoking and alcohol consumption and WRMSI
Repeated Measures ANOVA
A Repeated Measure ANOVA will be used to interpret the results obtained from the RPD-Q The data will be compared at three different time points the beginning middle and end of the caregivers shift During analysis it will be possible to observe whether there has been a significant increase in perceived discomfort during the workday and which areas of the body experienced the most significant increase Prior to running the repeated measures ANOVA each data point will be plotted to observe if it is normally distributed Mauchlys test will be used to assess the sphericity assumption If the sphericity assumption is violated the Greenhouse-Geisser correction will be used The alpha level will be set at p 05 and if any significant interactions are found Tukey and Bonferroni post hoc analyses will be used
The same approach will be used for the physiological outcome measures heart rate monitor and the galvanic skin response system Repeated Measures ANOVA will be utilized to compare the data collected at the beginning middle and end of the caregivers shift The outcome measure will be to quantify whether stress levels and fluctuations of heart rate increased throughout the workday If any significance is found a Tukey and Bonferroni correction will be applied
Qualitative Results
A qualitative approach will be used to synthesize information gathered from the workers through the use of field notes This will include documenting the circumstances surrounding their previous injuries and other relevant details
The overall aim of this study is to establish a database on the physical requirements of caregivers working in long-term care homes
This study will highlight the support needed for caregivers in long term care facilities aiming to improve their working conditions through interventions and strategies that ensure their physical and mental well-being
Research Questions
The research question for this study is as follows
1 What are the physicalmusculoskeletal demands and motor movement patterns performed by caregivers in residential settings and what does a typical workday entail for this population
2 Is there a significant increase in perceived discomfort levels among caregivers throughout their workday
3 What are the lifestyle habits of caregivers and what is the prevalence and history of musculoskeletal injuries among caregivers
4 Is there an increase in the fluctuations of their stress levels and heart rate throughout their workday
Hypotheses
The hypotheses for this study are as follows
1 Caregivers spend a significant portion of their workday transferring residents or engaging in various repetitive motor tasks
2 Caregivers experience significant increases in perceived discomfort in most areas of the body which will be exacerbated throughout their shift
3 There will be a correlation between lifestyle habits and injury history among caregivers
4 Physiological stress levels will increase over the course of a caregivers workday
Introduction
One of the key objectives of this study is to identify the physical demands and requirements of caregivers working in long-term care facilities The first step involved creating an ergonomic tool tailored to the assessment of caregivers See appendix A This tool enables the recording of various motor tasks behaviors and habits performed repetitively during a typical workday Additionally it facilitates the quantification of data to gain a better understanding of the physical demands of their work This tool will allow investigators to determine the total time spent on specific motor tasks during a workday for this population
In conjunction with the ergonomic tool the investigators will administer questionnaires to gather information on lifestyle habits work-related injury history perceptions of job-related physical demands using the Health and Lifestyle Questionnaire and levels of discomfort during a workday using the Rate of Perceived Discomfort Questionnaire RPD-Q Additionally physiological changes such as galvanic skin response and heart rate fluctuations will be recorded during data collection to monitor caregivers physiological responses throughout the workday This research approach will provide a comprehensive overview of the physical demands and injury risks amongst caregivers working in a long-term care facility Collecting this data will enable researchers and others in creating new interventions better tailored to this working population such as warm-up routines stretching exercises training programs andor technological advancements
Methods
This study employs mixed methods research gathering both quantitative and qualitative data to comprehensively understand the issues surrounding Work Related Musculoskeletal Injuries WRMSI among caregivers in long-term care facilities in New Brunswick
30 full-time caregivers from the York Care Center Nursing Home in Fredericton Kenneth E Spencer Memorial Nursing Home in Moncton and Westford Nursing Home in Port Elgin will be recruited for this research project
The participants will be caregivers working with residents with a level three classification This means that the residents require constant supervision may or may not be living with a stable chronic condition and require assistance with personal care sanitation and mobility All participants will be assessed for an 8 to 12-hour workday in a single experimental session
The equipment used in this study includes
1 A newly developed Pen-and-Paper based Ergonomic monitoring tool designed by the researchers to identify the physical demands of caregivers work will be utilized in this study see appendix A The main objective of this research is to identify the different motor tasks transfer procedures positions and behaviors that pose risks of developing WRMSI in caregivers The researchers will monitor and manually input each task performed by the caregivers
2 The Rate of Perceived Discomfort Questionnaire RPD-Q see appendix B will be administered to track the progression of caregivers discomfort during their workday The RPD-Q is a self-reported questionnaire with a 100-point visual analogue scale that indicates the level of discomfort relative to specific body parts A scale of point 0 corresponds to no discomfort and point 100 represents the worst discomfort imaginable each point is the equivalent of one millimeter Twenty-four different body parts will be measured in the RPD questionnaire on both the right and left sides of the body The RPD questionnaire will be administered 3 times throughout the shift Prior to the start of the shift at the midpoint and at the end of the caregivers workday Recording the RPD questionnaire at these specific timepoints will provide a snapshot on how discomfort levels develop throughout a typical working shift
3 A questionnaire on lifestyle habits and work-related injury history see appendix C will be administered during data collection to gain insights into current lifestyle and previous workplace injury history of participants The questionnaire is composed of short-answer multiple-choice and open-ended questions that can be used as a journal during data collection The HL questionnaire will be filled out once during the workday of data collection The objective of this questionnaire is to further understand the relationship between current lifestyle of the workers and the development of workplace injuries The questionnaire is divided into three different subsections
The amount of time spent in sedentary behavior the amount of physical activity performed and the amount of alcohol and tobacco consumed by participants in a typical week
The number of years of experience in the sector and participants subjective perception of the physical demands imposed by their work
The occurrence or non-occurrence of persistent work-related musculoskeletal injuries or discomfort and the limitations these injuries impose on individuals ability to work and their overall well-being
4 Physiological Measures An Empatica EmbracePlus watch a galvanic skin response system will be used to assess and quantify the participants stress levels throughout their workday Additionally the Polar H10 heart rate monitor will enable the observation of caregivers heart rate fluctuations during their workday Data collection will follow a baseline measurement of participants heart rate and stress level which will be taken after 5 minutes in a seated position in a quiet area and with eyes closed prior to the start of their shift Field notes will also be taken to facilitate the identification of the periods of the day when physiological stress levels are highest during data collection
Statistical AnalysisData Processing
Descriptive Statistics
Descriptive statistics using the software IMB SPSS Version 29 mean median standard deviation etc will be used to evaluate quantitative values derived from the newly developed ergonomic tool
Cross Correlations
A series of cross correlations will be run on the Health and Lifestyle Questionnaire to identify correlations between different Work-Related Musculoskeletal Injury WRMSI risk factors The correlation coefficient will enable the investigators to identify whether the relationships are inversely proportional or directly proportional For example it will be possible to examine the correlation between physical activity levels and WRMSI history as well as whether there is a relationship between increases in smoking and alcohol consumption and WRMSI
Repeated Measures ANOVA
A Repeated Measure ANOVA will be used to interpret the results obtained from the RPD-Q The data will be compared at three different time points the beginning middle and end of the caregivers shift During analysis it will be possible to observe whether there has been a significant increase in perceived discomfort during the workday and which areas of the body experienced the most significant increase Prior to running the repeated measures ANOVA each data point will be plotted to observe if it is normally distributed Mauchlys test will be used to assess the sphericity assumption If the sphericity assumption is violated the Greenhouse-Geisser correction will be used The alpha level will be set at p 05 and if any significant interactions are found Tukey and Bonferroni post hoc analyses will be used
The same approach will be used for the physiological outcome measures heart rate monitor and the galvanic skin response system Repeated Measures ANOVA will be utilized to compare the data collected at the beginning middle and end of the caregivers shift The outcome measure will be to quantify whether stress levels and fluctuations of heart rate increased throughout the workday If any significance is found a Tukey and Bonferroni correction will be applied
Qualitative Results
A qualitative approach will be used to synthesize information gathered from the workers through the use of field notes This will include documenting the circumstances surrounding their previous injuries and other relevant details
Study Oversight
Has Oversight DMC:
None
Is a FDA Regulated Drug?:
None
Is a FDA Regulated Device?:
None
Is an Unapproved Device?:
None
Is a PPSD?:
None
Is a US Export?:
None
Is an FDA AA801 Violation?:
None