A biomechanical study of slip, trip and falls among hill women of mountain region of Uttarakhand
Loading...
Date
2014-09
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand)
Abstract
Slip, trip and falls (STF) are an intriguing problem and a major cause of mortality and a significant burden to our society both in terms of human suffering and economic losses. There is a paucity of research as only a few studies have focused on the outdoor environment which, particularly in an external environment like at hills, is far less controllable and predictable. Environment and exposures at hills such as an inclined or sloped ground surface, slippery terrain, etc. pose an individual at an increased risk of instability and ultimately falls. An understanding of factors contributing to slips and falls is required for the development of effective prevention strategies. So, this study is an attempt to identify what are the hazards, causes, exposures and activities leading to STF among hill women; how load carriage activities and inclined terrain of hills affect the likelihood of slips; physiological changes that occur during the conduct of STF prone activities and psycho-social adjustments needed after STF incident among the hill women. The hill districts of Uttarakhand state, Almora and Bageshwar were purposively selected for the study. One block from each district i.e. Hawalbagh and Kapkot were selected to make a total sample of 180. Equal number of respondents was selected from three age groups i.e. young adults, middle aged and elderly. Simple random sampling technique without replacement and descriptive cum experimental research design was used for study. For field experiments 30 respondents with similar PFI were selected and for laboratory experiments 20 subjects without any history of balance disorders, dizziness, musculoskeletal injury during the past year affecting normal gait were selected. Results revealed that hazards reported by majority included temperature extremity (84.44%), STF (75.00%), torrential rain (62.22%). The most STF prone activities were found to be carrying fodder (52.78%), carrying firewood (49.44%), collecting fodder (47.78%), collecting firewood (43.89%) and collecting dung (40.56%). Most of the STF accidents were reported by elderly age group compared to middle aged and young adults. Majority of the respondents got hurt their back and/or they suffered from back pain (76.67%), faced general pain (72.22%) and fractures (45.00%). Reason perceived by the respondents for the STF incident included slippery terrain (82.78%) and carrying excess load (80.00%), being rushed at work (77.77%), awkward or unusual working posture (76.66%). During the performance of selected STF prone activities highest mean RPE score was given for collecting firewood (6.63) and lowest mean RPE (3.43) for collecting dung activity. Heart rate was found to be maximum during carrying firewood (155.47beats/min) and minimum during collecting dung (118.11 beats/min). It was also found that subjects exhibited shorter SL while walking uphill compared to downhill and flat surface. Significant effects of surface type, load magnitude and surface-carriage interaction were found with respect to WV. HCV was slowest while walking downhill and maximum while going uphill. RCOF was found to be maximum at uphill surface i.e. 0.57. Toe clearance was minimum at uphill surface.
Description
Thesis-PhD
Keywords
Uttarakhand, rural women, hill areas, mountain areas, ergonomics, posture, slip, falls, musculoskeletal system