Showing 9 results for Ramin
Saideh Meshgin, Rahman Sheikhhoseini, Ramin Balouchi,
Volume 6, Issue 2 (Journal of Ergonomics 2018)
Abstract
Introduction: People with different ages especially children and teenagers spend most of their free time using electronic entertainments The purpose of this research was studying the relationship between “upper body posture” and physical activity, mental aspects and the use of electronic entertainments.
Materials & Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 160 female students aged 7-12 years old, from 17th district of Tehran were chosen. Tools for collecting information was short-form physical activity measure questionnaire (IPAQ), personal information questionnaire consisting of questions about the amount of time using electronic entertainments, Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS) and children’s depression inventory (CDI) by Maria Kovacs. Photogrammetric method was applied for measuring forward head and rounded shoulder angle, and a flexible ruler for measuring kyphosis angle. A linear regression test with a %95 level of certainty was used for analysing collected information (P <0.05).
Results: There is a meaningful relationship between depression and anxiety with students’ forward head angle, and depression and electronic entertainments with kyphosis angle (P<0.05). But no meaningful relationship was observed between rounded shoulder angle and mental aspects and physical activity.
Conclusion: A close relationship between psychological factors and upper body posture in female primary school students from Tehran was observed and this issue should be considered while designing preventive and corrective programs.
Fakhradin Ghasemi, Kamran Gholamizadeh, Amin Doosti-Irani, Rahmani Ramin,
Volume 6, Issue 4 ( Iranian Journal of Ergonomics 2019)
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Upper extremities are very vulnerable to work-related musculoskeletal disorders and selecting the best technique for assessing their exposure to ergonomic risk factors is of pivotal importance. This study aimed to compare two techniques of SI and ACGIH-HAL and assess their relationship with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) among butchers.
Methods: The study population was all butchers in Hamadan, Iran. After observing the activities, the assessments were conducted using both techniques. The severity of CTS syndromes was assessed using Boston questionnaire. The agreement between the techniques was investigated using Kappa coefficient. The association between the risk levels obtained from the techniques with the severity of CTS syndromes were assessed by regression analysis and fixing the effect of personal factors such as age, body mass index, and wrist ratio index.
Results: a total number of 152 butchers were evaluated. SI and ACGIH-HAL techniques respectively recognized 76 and 102 cases as low risk (agreement in 69 cases), 40 and 27 cases as moderate risk (agreement in 8 cases), and 36 and 23 cases as high risk (agreement in 18 cases). The Kappa coefficient between two techniques was 0.36 (P<0.001). By fixing the effects of age, body mass index, and wrist ratio index, both techniques had significant association with the severity of CTS syndromes. However, the association between SI and severity of CTS syndrome was higher than that of ACGIH-HAL.
Conclusion: SI had a higher estimate of risk than ACGIH-HAL. It seems that the predictive ability of SI for the severity of CTS syndrome is better than that of ACGIH-HAL.
Esfandyar Ataei, Ramin Sadeghian, Peyman Najafi,
Volume 7, Issue 4 (Iranian Journal of Ergonomics 2020)
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Recognition and prevention of burnout plays an important role in promoting mental health and increasing the quality of services provided. This paper aimed to prevent the occurrence of this problem, seeking to identify the effective factors on the employees' burnout.
Methods: Many studies have been carried out by researchers on staff burnout using a descriptive-analytical approach, but there is no model comprehensively identifying the factors affecting employee burnout and, more importantly, expressing the relationships between the factors involved. Therefore, system dynamics analysis and VENSIM software have been used for explaining the quantitative relationships between factors affecting employees' burnout, evaluation and simulation.
Results: After designing causal, flow diagrams and model validation, four scenarios were extracted using system dynamics and simulation methods. The first scenario, which shows the current status of the company, indicated an increase in burnout. In the second scenario, with increased job satisfaction, employee productivity increased, but higher productivity, in practice, did not lead to reduction in burnout. In the third scenario, burnout decreased with increasing occupational control variables. And in the fourth scenario, by increasing the welfare and rest parameters of the staff, it was found that this scenario also had a significant effect on reducing the burnout of employees.
Conclusion: From among the four simulated scenarios, the fourth one, which is the increase in staff welfare parameters, had the most impact on reducing the burnout of Ardabil Regional Water Company employees.
Ramin Rahmani, Ali Ebrazeh, Farzad Zandi, Roghayeh Rouhi, Shirdel Zandi,
Volume 8, Issue 4 (Iranian Journal of Ergonomics 2021)
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Paying attention to human resources is one of the basic principles for increasing productivity and quality of services in hospitals. Therefore, the present study was designed to compare the level of job satisfaction and job stress, and the association between these two components in nurses, operating room, and anesthesia staff.
Methods: This is a descriptive causal-comparative study, performed in December 2019 in Zabol hospitals with the participation of 175 nurses, operating room, and anesthesia staff. A three-part questionnaire consisting of demographic information, job satisfaction, and job stress was used to collect data. Then analysis of data was performed using SPSS 20 and the Pearson correlation coefficient, independent t-test, and ANOVA.
Results: In this study, it was found that nursing group had the highest job satisfaction and anesthesia and operating room staff had the lower job satisfaction. Also, the highest and lowest levels of job stress were related to anesthesiologists and nurses, respectively, and the differences in both variables were significant between the three groups. Moreover, the results showed that there was a significant negative correlation between job satisfaction and job stress, totally.
Conclusion: Due to that anesthesia staff was in a more unfavorable situation than others. We recommend that management planning and policies in hospitals be done by occupational groups and design and carry out the studies to assess the needs for each group.
Ramin Rahmani, Raheleh Hashemi Habybabady, Mohammad Hossein Mahmoudi, Haniyeh Yousefi, Siavash Shahnavazi,
Volume 9, Issue 1 (Iranian Journal of Ergonomics 2021)
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Assessing the workability of employees is very important, and firefighting is one of the critical jobs. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the work ability index (WAI), and identify some effective factors among firefighters.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out with participation of 101 firefighters in Zahedan, Iran in 2018. Subjects were included in the study by census method. Data were collected using a two-part questionnaire (demographic information and WAI items), and data analysis was performed using SPSS 24.
Results: The mean of age and work experience of the subjects were 34.18±6.70 and 8.47±6.79 years, respectively. Only 18 individuals (17.8%) were single, and most of them exercised at least once a week. The mean score of WAI was 44.33±3.56 and most of the subjects were in the excellent range. With increasing age and work experience, WAI decreased, and there was also a significant relationship between marital status and weekly exercise with WAI.
Conclusions: In general, the condition of the firefighters was favorable in terms of workability. However, due to the relationship between personal characteristics and WAI, it is necessary to adjust the duties of older people with more work experience.
Mohsen Aliabadi, Ramin Rahmani, Ebrahim Darvishi, Maryam Farhadian, Masoud Shafiee Motlagh, Neda Mahdavi,
Volume 9, Issue 3 (Iranian Journal of Ergonomics 2021)
Abstract
Background: Exposure to vibration is one of the occupational agents that causes a variety of health effects. The aim of this study was to determine the association between exposure to human vibration and the physical performance of mining drivers.
Methods: In the present study, 65 drivers working in one of the Iron Ore mines, were asked to complete the standard questionnaire for assessing the level of disability of the arm, shoulder and hand (DASH). Exposure to human vibration was measured using Svantek 106 vibrometer. Drivers' physical performance was assessed based on grip strength, Pegboard dexterity, and monofilament finger sensory tests. Data were analyzed using SPSS 21 software.
Results: The average vibration acceleration whole body (WBV) and hand-arm (HAV) were 1.00±0.23 and 2.46±0.68 m/s2 respectively. There was a significant relationship between exposure to HAV and grip strength and hand dexterity (p <0.05). According to the DASH score, 56.9% of drivers had mild and 43.1% had moderate upper limb disability. The results of the multiple regression model with a coefficient of determination of 0.207 showed that the WBV in the presence of other predictor variables had a significant effect on DASH score (p<0.05).
Conclusion: In mining truck drivers, WBV exposure was higher and HAV exposure was lower than the national exposure limits. The results confirmed that WBV caused by mining trucks is the most important risk factor affecting the level of drivers' disability.
Ramin Rafeie, Mohammad Eftekhari Yazdi, Koorosh Nakhaee, Siamak Khorramymehr,
Volume 10, Issue 3 (Iranian Journal of Ergonomics 2022)
Abstract
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.
Mohammad Babamiri, Ramin Rahmani, Rashid Heydari Moghadam, Mehraneh Shabani,
Volume 11, Issue 2 (Iranian Journal of Ergonomics 2023)
Abstract
Objectives: In work environments, job stress is the main factor that can make employees lose control and provide the opportunity for the occurrence of aggression in employees. Therefore, this study investigated the role of the effort-reward imbalance model in the occurrence of bullying in the workplace.
Methods: This study was descriptive-analytical in nature. The research population consisted of employees of one of the petrochemical plants located in the south of the country. The samples (n=202) were selected using the census sampling method. In this research, two self-report questionnaires, namely the Effort-Reward Imbalance Scale and the Questionnaire of bullying actions, were used to measure the variables. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 18 software using Pearson’s correlation coefficient and linear regression.
Results: The mean scores of the participants’ age and work experience in this study were 40.13±9.32 and 15.9±9.50 years, respectively. Among the participants, 72.8% were female and 86.1% were married. In terms of educational status, 10.9% had an associate's degree, 81.2% had a bachelor's degree, and the rest had a master's degree or higher. About three-quarters of the participants were public service employees, and the rest were working on a contract basis. Based on the results of the multivariate regression model, among the variables investigated in this study, effort-reward imbalance and extreme commitment were able to significantly predict the changes in the bullying score (P<0.001).
Conclusion: Employees who feel imbalanced between inputs and outputs in the job, as well as those who have the characteristic of excessive responsibility, are more likely to display negative behaviors in the form of bullying in the workplace.
Sina Ghasemi, Behzad Imani, Ramin Rahmani, Shirdel Zandi,
Volume 11, Issue 4 (Iranian Journal of Ergonomics 2024)
Abstract
Objectives: Musculoskeletal disorders are among the common problems in most work environments and work ability is considered a factor affecting the performance and productivity of employees. In the present study, the status of these two components and their relationship with each other in the staff working in the operating room were investigated.
Methods: The current cross-sectional study was conducted in the winter of 2023. In this research, 96 employees working in the operating rooms of government hospitals in Hamadan, Iran were enrolled by census sampling method based on the inclusion criteria. The data were collected through the Nordic standard questionnaire and the work ability index questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 24) at two levels of descriptive (frequency, mean, and standard deviation) and inferential (t-test) statistics.
Results: In this study, 4 (4.2%) of the participants had one musculoskeletal disorder and the remaining 91 personnel (95.8%) had more than one disorder in their musculoskeletal systems. Average work ability index was 42.3±04.91. The results of the independent t-test showed that the work ability index among people with pain in the neck (P=0.003), shoulders (P=0.001), elbows (P=0.038), back (P=0.011), knees (P=0.001), and legs (P=0.002) were less than those without pain in these organs.
Conclusion: Results indicated the need to pay more attention to the implementation of ergonomic work environment and management interventions to reduce the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and thereby increase the efficiency and effectiveness of personnel.
