Biomechanics of the back for prevention of occupational musculoskeletal disorders

我们的第一个研究兴趣是预防怀孕期间的肌肉骨骼疾病，特别是背痛。在怀孕期间，脊柱上的负荷增加，因为体重增加，躯干重心前移。孕妇亦可能因腹部增大而需要采用不同的工作姿势（例如伸展），如果姿势延长，可能会引起不适和疼痛。目前还没有多少科学证据可以作为工作调整决策的依据，需要进行更多的研究，以更好地了解怀孕和工作环境之间的生物力学变化之间的相互作用。 我们已经开发出方法来分析孕妇在实验室或现场执行的特定任务。在未来五年，我们将继续开发相关的研究工具，以分析任务。我们还将分析在加拿大情况下（推沉重的手推车、计算机工作）和在非洲情况下（头部负重）被认为对孕妇有问题的任务。这些方法将主要用于妊娠研究，但也可用于其他人群的研究。

Our first research interest is the prevention of musculoskeletal disorders during pregnancy, particularly back pain. During pregnancy, the loads on the spine increase because of the increased body mass, and the shift forward of the trunk centre of mass. Pregnant women may also need to adopt different working postures because of the increased size of the abdomen (for example to reach), and this may cause discomfort and pain if the postures are prolonged. There is still little scientific evidence on which to base decisions on job adjustment, and more research is needed to better understand the interactions between the biomechanical changes of pregnancy and the work environment. We have developed methods to analyse specific tasks performed by pregnant women in the lab or in the field. In the next five years, we will continue to develop relevant research tools to analyse tasks. We will also analyse tasks identified as problematic for pregnant women in the Canadian context (pushing a heavy trolley, computer work) and in the African context (carrying loads on the head). These methods will be used primarily for pregnancy studies but will be available for the study of other populations as well.