Iranian Journal of Ergonomics

Design of Modern Interactive and Ergonomic Home Air Purifier

Ali Faraji

Objectives: Healthy air is free of any pollutants, including odors, harmful gasses, dust and viruses, especially corona. This healthy air is provided by a purifier device. One of the problems of metropolises is the lack of healthy air, which is one of the most important human needs. The aim of this study was to design a new home air purifier with interactive and ergonomic features.
Methods: The purpose and nature of this research are applied and qualitative-descriptive, respectively. A survey method is used to collect data. The most important tool in the field study is verbal-visual (researcher-made questionnaire) and has benefited from the analysis of relevant experts, Delphi group. Its design method was the so-called Design up (Tarrahi Nameh in Persian) where it is based on the interaction design and user-centered approach and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used to evaluate the different stages of the project.
Results: The achievement of this research is a new home air purifier with interactive and ergonomic features with Nik mark. On the one hand, it is easy to use and accelerates the purification operation with a larger area than the existing devices through different filters, and on the other hand, it is easy to assemble, economical and optimally designed. It has automatic and manual adjustment of fan speed and remote control, it has the ability to be used standing and wall-mounted, and it is environmentally friendly.
Conclusion: Eventually this design offered effectiveness, efficiency, safety/comfortability, utility, learnability and memorability as elements of usability. It also demonstrates features such as visibility, feedback, constraints, adaptability and affordance as the goals of interaction design. Finally, this design conducted a satisfactory user experience.

Investigating the Relationship between Working Ability and the Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Disorders During COVID-19 Pandemic in in the Staff of Saveh Comprehensive Urban and Rural Health Service Centers

Farhad Tabatabai Ghomsheh

Objectives: Health workers are the frontline of the fight against Coronavirus. During the Pandemic, these jobs, which had a lot of referrals, were under high work pressure, that can increase the chances of suffering from musculoskeletal disorders and affect their working ability. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the relationship between work ability and the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in the staff of Saveh's comprehensive urban and rural health service centers during the Corona Pandemic in 2022.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 197 employees of comprehensive urban and rural health service centers in Saveh city were randomly selected. The prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and working ability were evaluated by the developed Nordic questionnaire and WAI (Work Ability Index), respectively. Data analysis was done using Pearson correlation coefficient tests and Two-way logistic regression.
Results: The average working ability of employees was equal to 34.86 ± 7.61. The most common areas involved in musculoskeletal disorders were the back (63%), neck (30%) and knees (17.8%) with the frequency of 125, 63 and 39 people, respectively. The index of working ability on musculoskeletal disorders in hip and thigh, hand and wrist, neck and back areas was significant (P ≤ 0.05). Also, the working ability was lower in cases with a history of corona virus infection (P = 0.001).
Conclusion: Considering the effect of working ability on the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders, it is suggested that during the COVID-19 epidemic, identification of factors affecting the reduction of work ability and the implementation of ergonomic interventions should be prioritized.

Investigating the Relationship between Surgeon's Mental Workload and Their Productivity: Validation of "Surgeon-TLX" Tool in Iranian Surgeons.

Saeedeh Mosaferchi

Objectives: The importance of surgery and its high workload are not hidden from anyone. So far, various studies have been conducted with the NASA-TLX instrument and other commonly used instruments to measure surgeons’ workload. The present study seeks to investigate the relationship between the mental workload of surgeons and their productivity through the validation of specialized tools for this job in Iranian culture.
Methods: After checking the validity and reliability of "SURG-TLX" and productivity tools, they were utilized among 60 surgeons to investigate the relationship between their workload and productivity (WHO-HPQ tool). Content validity indices, Cronbach's alpha coefficient and Spearman's correlation coefficient were used to analyse the results.
Results: Both tools had good validity and reliability in Iranian culture. The results of the relationship between mental workload subscales with different dimensions of productivity showed that some dimensions of mental workload including mental needs (correlation coefficient -0.65 and significance level 0.02), physical needs (correlation coefficient -0.54 and significance level 0.04) and time requirements (correlation coefficient -0.44 and significance level 0.02) had a reverse and significant relationship with the overall productivity score. Despite the reverse relationship between the other dimensions of mental workload and the overall productivity score in surgeons, this relationship was not statistically significant. The results indicated a reverse and significant relationship between some of the mental workload and some of the productivity subscales.
Conclusion: In addition to the possibility of using these tools in the future studies in Iran, due to the direct relationship between workload and productivity in surgeons, measures can be taken to maintain the workload at a standard level and prevent the reduction of their productivity.

Measuring User's Emotional Experience in Two Tools Using an Integrated Method Based on Task Analysis

Hassan Sabourimoghaddam

Objectives: Human factors are critical in the design and development of various products, but wideness and unclarity of different aspects of these factors make it difficult to extract demands of users. Studying emotional aspects of users' behavior in interaction with products, as well as interviewing them, is considered as an efficient tool in extracting design demands. This study aims to integrate the application of task analysis and the measuring of emotional aspects to determine the users’ emotional states in the different stages; and therefore extract the user satisfaction criteria.
Methods: This research has a descriptive/ exploratory approach. In this practical study, the use of two everyday tools for chopping onions is analyzed. 20 users of these tools were non-randomly selected to participate in the test and interview. Users performed the task with each tool, and the process was recorded by a camera. After performing the task, subjects completed self-assessment questionnaire and then, an interview was conducted about their experience of the tools usage. Parametric t test was used to evaluate results of the questionnaire and compare averages.
Results: Findings of the emotional questionnaire showed that the emotional states of people in different stages of task are significantly different from each other. The determined emotional states, showed the weaknesses and the advantages of the tools studied. By analyzing videos, interviews and surveys, users' demands were extracted. The extracted features were categorized based on the work steps.
Conclusion: Using this method can reveal precise details of users’ needs concerning product category, which can be used as a suitable tool for designers and researchers in the field of user experience.

The Effect of Non-Slippery Flooring on Postural Stability and Gait Parameters in Severe Osteoporosis Elderly

Mohammad Eftekhari Yazdi

Objectives: Investigating the effective factors in controlling and increasing stability due to weakening of the balance parts of the body in the elderly with osteoporosis, in order to prevent falling is of particular importance, so in this study, the effect of anti-slip flooring in the stimulation of the somatosensory part of the sole of the foot to improve postural stability and gait balance has been evaluated in the elderly with osteoporosis.
Methods: 22 elderlies participated (11 elderly women with severe osteoporosis,11 healthy elderly women) in this study in two static and dynamic condition on three different surfaces including sponge non-slippery flooring (FL), PVC patterned non-slippery flooring (SF) and control surface (CO). In the static part, each participant was standing on the force plate for 30 seconds with eyes open and eyes closed. The values of the length, sway and average velocity of the anterior-posterior and internal-external center of pressure of the foot were measured. In the dynamic part, each participant walked at a selected speed on different surfaces and the values of the normalized step and stride length, step width, step and stride time, and average step and stride velocity were measured.
Results: PVC non-slippery flooring (SF) and control surface (CO) reduced all postural stability and gait variables (P < 0.05) in osteoporosis and healthy elderly than soft Sponge Surface (SF). Moreover, all postural stability variable and spatial and temporal gait parameters were significantly more in the osteoporosis elderly than in healthy elderlies (P < 0.05). Moreover, anterior-posterior mean velocity in open-eyed state significantly reduced in both elderly groups than close-eyed state (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: Stiff and patterned surfaces are more effective than soft spongy surfaces in stimulating the somatosensory part of the foot sole to improve stability in both osteoporotic and healthy elderly groups. The results of this study may be helpful to understand the characteristics of the elderly while walking and standing on non-slippery flooring in different environments and the ergonomic design of the environment in order to reduce slips and falls and as a result possible fracture in the elderly with severe osteoporosis. In addition, observation of instability between the elderly with osteoporosis and healthy suggests the need for further investigation and the use of auxiliary exercises to correct and improve stability.

Reducing the Ergonomic Load on Nurses Using Integrated Job Rotation and Shift Scheduling Plan: A Multi-Objective Optimization Approach

Amirsaman Kheirkhah

Objectives: Hospitals are one of the most important organizations in the country, and nurses are one of their main pillars with high workloads and stress, nurses are exposed to many injuries. Ergonomic load on nurses can be reduced by an optimal job rotation and shift scheduling plan. Although these two approaches have been proposed separately, in past research articles, they have not been considered at the same time.
Methods: In this article, a two-objective mathematical model is presented for simultaneous optimization of job rotation and shift scheduling of nurses. The first objective is to minimize the maximum ergonomic load and the second objective is to minimize the total mental-psychological load on nurses. The comprehensive criterion approach has been used to integrate the objectives and reach a single objective model. The proposed model has been used in a case study and the parameters of the model have been quantified using the Movement and Assistance of Hospital Patients (MAPO) index and the Nordic questionnaire as well as the Depression- Anxiety- Stress Scale )DASS( method.
Results: The program obtained from the mathematical model was compared with the program available in the studied hospital, which was done manually. The results showed a decrease in the ergonomic load of nurses in the new program compared to the existing situation.
Conclusion: Compared to the conventional method, the proposed integrated method can lead to a greater reduction of occupational injuries.

Present a Resilient Human Resource Management Model in the Health System; A Qualitative Research (Case Study: Third Macro Region Medical Sciences Universities of the Country)

Reza Taghvaei

Objectives: The medical staff and health system employees are exposed to job burnout due to their continuous work in round-the-clock, sensitive and unusual jobs, and this condition causes an increase in the rate of employees leaving the service. Therefore, in recent years, the issue of resilience of human resources to deal with job burnout and the continuity of employees' activity in difficult and critical conditions has been taken into consideration. In this regard, the current research has been conducted with the aim of presenting a model of resilient human resource management in the country's health system.
Methods: The present research was conducted using the qualitative research method based on thematic analysis strategy. In this regard, 14 semi-structured interviews with the statistical population of the research, including professors, managers, human resources experts of the medical sciences universities in the 3rd region of the country's health system, using the chain sampling method (snowball) and based on The rule of theoretical saturation was performed. In the following, using the open, central and selective coding method in the analysis of the theme, the initial pattern of the research was obtained.
Results: The results of qualitative data analysis have led to the identification of 116 basic themes, 39 organizing themes and 13 inclusive themes in the form of a model with 4 dimensions of environmental factors, organizational factors, human resource management functions and its consequences. In the following, the validity and reliability of the research has been confirmed using the content validity ratio method and the Holsti method, respectively.
Conclusion: The effective implementation of the identified factors and their prioritization in order to optimize and resiliency of human resources management can be effective in improving work performance, increasing motivation and ultimately improving organizational resilience.

Review of Articles Published in Ergonomics Journal During Years 2013 to 2022: A Scientometric Study

Mahdi Jahangiri

Objectives: Planning and scientific policy making is required for the investigation of scientific productions. Scientific productions are published through universities and research centers in the form of articles and research journals. Scientometric approaches are a tool to assess the performance of journals in different fields. The aim of the present study was to investigate the activity of ergonomics journal.
Methods: The current research was a practical objective with the descriptive data collection method, which was conducted with a scientometric approach. The research population consists of all the articles published in ergonomics journal during the years 1392 to 1401. Publish or Perish, Vosviewer and Excel software were used to collect and analyze data.
Results: A total of 296 articles from 724 authors have been published in Ergonomics journal during a 10-year period. The most articles published belonged to Hamadan, Shiraz, Tehran and Shahid Beheshti universities of medical sciences. The most effective authors in this journal were Rashid Heydari Moghadam (with 21 articles), Majid Motamedzadeh (with 20 articles), and Alireza Chubineh (with 15 articles). The most frequently used keywords were skeletal and muscular disorders with a frequency of 39, ergonomics 37 and anthropometrics 15.
Conclusion: According to the results, the number of citations of articles in this journal was at a low level. Therefore, it is suggested to increase the amount of international participation in order to index the journal in international citation databases and increase the citation rate of articles and the visibility of the journal.