Iranian Journal of Ergonomics

Comparing the Effect of Soft Tissue Stretching and Release Strategies on Pain, Fatigue and Quality of Life in Employees with Non-Specific Chronic Neck Pain

Farzaneh Gandomi

Objectives: Chronic neck pain is one of the most common musculoskeletal disorders that has a great impact on people's quality of life, health, and work efficiency. Due to the high costs of drug treatments, the search for simple and low-cost treatment solutions is inevitable. Stretching and tissue release techniques are effective solutions for correcting skeletal-muscular disorders. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate their effectiveness in controlling pain and improving the performance of people suffering from non-specific chronic neck pain.
Methods: In this semi-experimental study with parallel groups and pre-test-post-test design, 39 patients with non-specific chronic neck pain with an average age of 25 to 45 years, in a non-random and available form, were selected from the office workers. Individuals were randomly assigned into three groups of traction stretch, release, and control, and received interventions for six weeks. At the beginning and after the completion of the interventions, pain intensity, qualitative fatigue, and quality of life were evaluated using the visual measure of pain, multidimensional fatigue questionnaire, and SF36 questionnaire, respectively. To compare the averages, one way ANCOVA a mixed analysis of variance test was used.
Results: Intra-group comparisons showed that pain intensity, quality of life, and fatigue improved significantly in both intervention groups (P<0.05). Stretching and release exercises both had a significant effect on improving the variables (P<0.05). However, the results of the release exercises group were more significant.
Conclusion: Six weeks of releasing and stretching techniques in non-specific chronic neck pain patients reduces pain and fatigue and increases their quality of life.

Investigating the Effectiveness of the Intervention Based on the Empowerment Model in the Job Performance of School Counselors

Hossein Ghamari Givi

Objectives: School counselors are responsible for addressing academic, personal/social, and career development needs through the design, implementation, evaluation, and enhancement of a comprehensive school counseling program that results in improved student achievement. Therefore The aim of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of the intervention based on the empowerment model on the job performance of school counselors.
Methods: The method of the current research was a mixed sequential exploratory type. For this purpose, a semi-experimental method with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group was used to check the effectiveness of the training package. The statistical population of the research included all the school counselors working in the first secondary school of Ardabil city (areas 1 and 2) in the academic year 2021-2022, among them based on the cut-off point of the school counselor occupational performance scale (score 86) and taking into account the entry criteria For the research, 30 people were selected as a sample by random sampling method and according to the results of the pre-test, they were randomly replaced in two experimental and control groups (15 people in each group). The members of the experimental group received the desired educational content in one introductory session and 11 sessions of 120 minutes, while the members of the control group did not receive any intervention. The follow-up test was also done after 3 months. The obtained data were analyzed using spss software and multivariate analysis of covariance test.
Results: The results showed that the intervention based on empowerment has a positive and significant effect on the job performance components of school counselors. This means that school counselors as a result of participating in training sessions based on the empowerment model, in the dimensions of knowledge (F = 0.20 and P = 0.001), skills (F = 0.69 and P = 0.001) and attitude and behavior (F=0.47 and P=0.001) had a positive and significant performance.
Conclusion: Teaching the content related to the empowerment model is an effective way to improve the performance of school counselors.

Investigate the Mediating Role of Job Burnout in the Relationship between Corona Anxiety and Occupational Stress among Employees of the Engineering and Construction Company in the Oil Industry

Mohammad Reza Omidi

Objectives: Employees in the oil and gas industry face various anxieties. The occurrence of corona disease and its rapid spread may increase the anxiety level of these people. The aim of this study is to investigate the mediating role of burnout in the relationship between corona anxiety and work stress.
Methods: The present study is a descriptive survey conducted in 1400. The statistical population of this research is all operational employees of Engineering and Construction Company of Oil Industries; Cochran formula was used to obtain a sample size of 310 people; the main instrument used to collect information is Corona Anxiety Scale Questionnaire, Job Burnout Questionnaire and Questionnaire. In this research, path analysis in SMART PLS software was used to analyze and test the research hypotheses.
Results: Corona anxiety has a significant effect on job burnout with coefficients (T=11.22 = 0.42, R^2) and job stress with coefficients (T=9.24 = 0.48, R^2). The effect of burnout on job stress is also significant with coefficients (T=9.24 = 0.38, R^2). The VAF effect coefficient for the effect of corona anxiety on job stress with the mediating role of burnout is equal to 0.51 and its significance coefficient is 7.52. Therefore, the mediating role of job burnout between the two variables corona anxiety and job stress was confirmed.
Conclusion: Corona anxiety has a direct and indirect negative effect on employees, and the level of corona anxiety in different industries should be reduced to improve employee performance.

Comparison of Indicators of Physical and Health-related Fitness and Body Composition in Different Age Groups of Workers

Keyvan Hejazi

Objectives: The study of physical and health-related fitness and body composition indicators in workers is very important to prevent performance degradation. Therefore, this study aims to investigate such indicators among the employees of Izogam Shargh Company.
Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, 150 workers from 150 stations in Mashhad city were selected by stratified random sampling and divided into three age groupsnamely. 25-34, 35-44 and 45-54 years. Two -way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and Bonferroni post-hoc test were performed to compare the variables in the three age groups.
Results: Significant differences were found in body composition indicators, i.e., weight between the age groups 25-34 years with 35- 44 years (P=0.008) and 35-44 years with 45- 54 years (P=0.001), body mass index between the age groups 25-34 years with 45-54 years (P=0.001) and 35-44 years with 45-54 years (P=0.001), body fat percentage between the age groups 25-34 years with 45- 54 years (P = 0.006), maximum oxygen consumption between the age groups 25-34 years with 35-44 years (P=0.001), 25-34 years with 45-54 years (P=0.001), and 35-44 years with 45-54 years (P=0.001). In addition, significant differences were found in all physical and health-related fitness indicators, i.e., agility, explosive strength, flexibility, abdominal muscle endurance, and shoulder girdle muscle endurance, between the age groups 25-34 years with 35-44 years (P=0.001), 25-34 years with 45-54 years (P=0.001), and 35-44 years with 45-54 years (P=0.001).
Conclusion: The results of this study show that the level of physical fitness of employees decreases with age. Therefore, it is suggested that the managers of companies create the necessary conditions and incentives for employees to engage in regular physical activity.

Measuring the Mediating Role of Psychological Empowerment in the Impact of Transformational Leadership on Employee Job Satisfaction

Hamideh Abbasi

Objectives: One of the best ways to maintain and improve human resources is to increase employee job satisfaction. Managers with a transformational leadership style are also one of the most important factors in improving job satisfaction. The purpose of this research was to investigate the impact of transformational leadership on the job satisfaction of employees with regard to the mediating role of psychological empowerment.
Methods: The statistical population of this research consisted of 1,500 employees of the central headquarters of the Tehran Social Security Organization, Tehran, Iran. The sample size (n=306) was calculated using the random sampling method and using Cochran's formula. Data collection tools were the Avolio and Bass standard transformational leadership questionnaire, Minnesota job satisfaction questionnaire, and Spretitzer psychological empowerment questionnaire. The validity of the questionnaires was measured by face and content validity. The reliability of these tools was assessed by Cronbach's alpha coefficient, whose value was calculated as 0.79 for the transformational leadership questionnaire, 0.83 for the empowerment questionnaire, and 0.82 for the job satisfaction questionnaire. Analysis of research data was done in SmartPLS software using path analysis and the structural equation model.
Results: Based on the findings, all research hypotheses were confirmed. The results obtained from the Sobel test showed that the indirect effect of transformational leadership style on job satisfaction through employee empowerment was 0.556; the positive value of beta (0.556) indicated the positive intensity of the effect.
Conclusion: The results of the research demonstrated that the role of transformational leadership by the managers of the organization would be effective in the feeling of job satisfaction and its improvement through creating working conditions that provide the empowerment of employees.

Effect of Stress Inoculation Training on Occupational Stress, COVID Anxiety, Resilience, and Sleep Quality in Medical Staff During the COVID-19 Pandemic

AliReza Heidari

Objectives: The present study aimed to assess the effect of stress inoculation treatment (SIT) on occupational stress, COVID anxiety, resilience, and sleep quality of healthcare workers.
Methods: The current study was conducted based on a pre-test-post-test design with the control group. The research community consisted of healthcare workers in Ahvaz, and the research participants included 40 cases who were selected by purposeful sampling based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. The research instruments were the COVID-19 anxiety scale, resilience scale, sleep quality scale, and job stress scale. The data were analyzed in SPSS software using univariate and multivariate covariance analysis.
Results: The results of the present study demonstrated F ratios of univariate analysis of covariance for sleep quality (F=304.08 and P<0.001), COVID anxiety (F=212.99 and P<0.001), resilience (F=152.37 and P<0.001) and job stress (F=124.59 and P<0.001).
Conclusion: Due to the effectiveness of stress inoculation training on the studied variables, this training seems necessary for the health and treatment staff.

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Musculoskeletal Injuries among Iranian Music Students and Musicians: A Review Study

Zahra Akbari-Chehrehbargh

Objectives: Scientific evidence shows that artistic activities, such as playing music, can put individuals at risk for specific musculoskeletal injuries. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and location of musculoskeletal injuries among Iranian music students and musicians, as well as to identify the related risk factors for their occurrence.
Methods: To find published studies without time limitations, a detailed search was conducted in databases including Pubmed, Scopus, Google Scholar, the Scientific Information Database (SID), and Magiran using appropriate keywords. In this investigation, we only reviewed cross-sectional studies that were available to explore the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and their related risk factors among eligible music students and musicians from Iran. Review articles with less than five participants and articles written in languages other than English and Persian were excluded from the study.
Results: Out of 19 studies found, after removing duplicates and similar studies, 7 cross-sectional descriptive-analytical studies with a sample size of 1,444 eligible participants were reviewed. The prevalence of injuries ranged from 53% to 65%. The most common area of pain was the neck and shoulders, which were present in all types of instruments. Being female was a predisposing factor for musculoskeletal problems in musicians.
Conclusion: Iranian music students and musicians often suffer from musculoskeletal injuries. The most common areas of the body where these injuries occur are the neck and shoulders. There are multiple risk factors, such as age, improper posture, and duration of training, for musculoskeletal injuries in this population.

Relationship between the Sitting Position in the Classroom and Musculoskeletal Pain in Primary School Male Students

Majid Shahbazi

Letter to Editor