Lupine Publishers | Open access Journal of Complimentary and Alternative Medicine
Abstract
Occupation is an important determinant of health in general and its overall positive or negative effect on well-being results from the interaction between individual characteristics and work-related features, the latter comprising biomechanical, psychosocial, and sociological axes. In India, about three fourth of the population are dependent on different type of crop cultivation; of which paddy cultivation is an important one. Paddy cultivation involves in various processes, some of the postures, which were taken by crop cultivators, were very harmful. Some of the works are dominated by static muscular contraction and some other works are involved with repeated dynamic activity. In this backdrop, the present study has been undertaken to assess the relationship between works related musculoskeletal discomforts score and obesity indices among the human resources engaged in paddy cultivation task. Significant association was observed between obesity indices and MSD discomfort score.
Keywords: MSD; Agriculture; Obesity; Job demand; Paddy cultivation
Introduction
Rice is one of the major food crops of the world. It provides
the bulk of daily calories; moreover, rice is also one of food which
is considered to be a potential food vehicle for the fortification of
micronutrients because of its regularly consumption. It is a good
source of thiamine (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2) and niacin
(vitamin B3). The nutrients content of rice was varies depending on
the variety of rice soil, and the conditions they growth. On the other
hand, rice cultivation is an important sector of earning opportunity
for the human resources engaged in agricultural task; 58.4% of
the human resources are engaged in the different agricultural task
during the paddy cultivating time in India. And 43.5% of male and
46.3% of the female human resources are engaged in different
agricultural work during the paddy cultivating time in WB. The area
under paddy cultivation is about 44.79 million hectares, the largest
in the world. Yet, the agricultural sector in the rural villages of India
is still dependent on non-mechanized technique i.e. dependent on
the physical effort of the human resources involved [1-4].
During the paddy cultivating time the agricultural workers
has to carry out different tasks-ploughing, transplanting, reaping,
threshing, and parboiling throughout the year even in a single day
too. Earlier studies report that, drudgery is generally conceived
as physical and mental strain, agony, monotony, and hardship
experienced by human beings [5-8]. While all these results in
decline in living and working conditions affecting men and women
[9-15]. Therefore, in order to ensure health, wellbeing and thereby
improving the work performance, the assessment of occupational
health status is considered as an essential factor for the human
resources engaged in outdoor occupations especially those who
are engaged in different types of tasks during the period of paddy
cultivating time [16-22].
Paddy cultivation involves in various processes, some of the postures, which were taken by the food growers were very harmful. Some of the works are dominated by static muscular contraction and some other works are involved with repeated dynamic activity [23-24]. According to public health perspective, effective well-documented initiatives for reducing body weight, improving physical capacity, and reducing musculoskeletal pain among health care workers are therefore required. Moreover, there is lack of evidence about the association between body weight status and musculoskeletal injury in different body regions. In this backdrop the present study aims to assess the relationship between different obesity indices and musculoskeletal discomfort score in human resources occupationally engaged in agricultural task especially paddy cultivating task.
Materials and Methods
Human resources engaged in paddy cultivation, with no known
chronic disease history (self-reported) and having a minimum
working experience of three years, regularly working on an average
for at least a period of six to six and half hours in the agricultural
field in Arambagh subdivision in the district Hooghly [(latitude
(23⁰01’N to 22⁰39’N) and longitude (88⁰30’E to 87⁰39’E)] were
approached for participation in the study. The study was carried
out on 34 adult Bengalee male food growers (age range 21-30
years) occupationally engaged in paddy cultivation. After obtaining
necessary human ethical clearance, along with initial consents
from the individuals, the names of volunteers were enlisted, and
the procedural requirements were explained elaborately. Basic
information regarding participants’ age (year), working experience
(year) and average working time (hr.day-1) recorded in a predesigned
schedule. Socio-economic status (SES) was assessed by
using Kuppuswamy’s scale [25].
Stature (cm) and body weight (BW) (kg) were measured using
anthropometric measurement set and weighing scale respectively.
Body mass index (BMI) was calculated from the measured stature
(cm) and body weight (kg) data. The pre working heart rate (HR Prework)
(beats. min-1), systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP Prework)
and (DBP Pre-work) (mm Hg) were recorded in the morning
hours before the individuals started working using an automated
blood pressure monitor in sitting condition. Waist circumference cm) [26] and hip circumference (cm) [27] were measured by using
non elastic tape. Conicity index (CI) [28], abdominal volume index
(AVI) [29], Rohrer index (RI), hip adiposity index (HAI) [30-31] and
a body shape index (ABSI) [31] were also obtained. Work related
musculoskeletal discomfort was assessed by Cornell University’s
Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire (CMDQ) [32]. The
obtained data were tabulated for statistical analysis. Obtained data
were statistically analyzed. P value lower than 0.05 (P<0.05) was
considered significant.
Results and Discussions
The basic profile including age (year), ethnic background, SES, working experience (year), average working time (hr.day-1) of the male food growers are presented in Table 1. The physical and physiological variables in terms of stature (cm), body weight (kg), HR Pre work (beats.min-1), SBP Pre work (mm Hg), and DBP Pre work (mm Hg) have been presented in Table 2. Association between different obesity indices in terms of BMI, CI, RI, AVI, HAI and ABSI with CMDQ score have been presented in Figure 1.
Table 1:
Table 2:
Figure 1: Association between different obesity indices and CMDQ score.
Obesity is a common condition and its prevalence is increasing
worldwide [33-38] and our country is neither an exception [39-40].
It is characterized by excess body fat which is usually accompanied
by increased total body mass. It is associated with numerous
chronic health conditions, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus,
cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and cancer. On the other
hand, BMI is considered as one of the most popular indicator of
obesity status [41]. In the present study, according to the BMI status
of the participants, it was found that 12.9% of the participants were
underweight, 35.5% were within normal BMI range and 51.6%
of study participants (maximum percentage of subjects) were
overweight as per WHO recommendation of BMI classification.
The main focus of the present study was to assess the
musculoskeletal discomfort score and to find its association, if any,
with the obesity indices among the study participants. CMDQ is a
reliable and valid tool, for measurement of WMSD. Maximum CMDQ
score has been found with individuals categorized as overweight
followed by normal and underweight individuals. Significant
association (P < 0.01) existed between BMI and CMDQ scores
(Figure 1) which is in agreement with earlier studies [3-4,22-23].
In the present study it is observed that, CMDQ score is significantly
associated with CI (P < 0.01), AVI (P < 0.01), HAI (P<0.01) and
ABSI (P<0.05), which is in agreement with other studies [7-10].
An earlier study [42] reported that, the risk of musculoskeletal
pain among overweight/obese individuals was 1.7-times more
as compared to individuals with normal body weight; especially
increased BMI value which may be contribute to musculoskeletal
discomforts [42].
Human resources working in front of a computer with high BMI
were found to be more prone to WMSD, may be because overweight
acts as a contributing factor in increasing the physiological
and mechanical load on tissues. Relative disk pressure is being
experienced during sitting with various inclinations of the back
support. Intra-diskal pressure of the nucleus pulposus, acts as a
load transducer and indicates the magnitude of axial loading on
the spinal column and the increased pressure indicates a greater
muscular effort in maintaining the posture and hence a larger stress
on spinal column. Moreover, overweight yields a decreased postural
stability and potentially negative impact on control of upper limb
movements but its effect on control of balance imposes constraints
on goal-directed movements. From a clinical perspective, obese
individuals might be less efficient and more at risk of injuries
than normal individuals in a large number of work tasks and daily
activities especially requiring upper limb movements [43-44]. The
result of the present study indicates positive association of obesity
indices with MSDs among computer operators, occupationally
engaged in organized sector and thereby reducing the performance
level of the individual workers.
Conclusion
From the present study it may be concluded that that obesity indices are associated with musculoskeletal symptoms; and a rise in BMI, CI, AVI, HAI and ABSI increases the chance of MSD occurrence inhuman resources working with a computer in course of their regular occupationally engaged in paddy cultivating task.
Acknowledgement
We are thankful to all volunteers for their participation.
Conflicts of Interest
Nil.
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