Ergonomic assessment of surgical residents using the Rapid Upper Limb and Rapid Entire Body Assessments.

Research Objectives: 1. To investigate the usefulness of the Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) and Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) for completing ergonomic assessments,
2. To understand the association between REBA and RULA scores and associated ergonomic risk,
3. To determine if Occupational Therapy graduate students could complete ergonomic assessments of surgical residents.

Design: Observational study.

Setting: University hospital.

Participants: Four OT graduate students completed the REBA and RULA on six surgical residents.

Interventions: Ergonomic assessment using the RULA and REBA.

Main Outcome Measures: The REBA and RULA evaluate postural stresses that increase the risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders. Scores > 4 represent median risk on the REBA, whereas scores > 3 may prompt change on the RULA. Demographic information included surgeon postgraduate year (PGY).

Results: To assist in completion of the assessments, OT students recorded static positions by taking photographs of operating surgery residents. Eleven assessments were completed on 6 surgical residents (PGY 3 to 7). The residents were each observed for 1 hour and the worst posture was selected to calculate the REBA and RULA. Mean RULA score 7.27 (range 4-10) Mode 7; Mean RULA 6.09 (4-7) Mode 6. A Spearman correlation comparison of the level of risk assessed by the REBA and RULA was moderate rs = 0.43853, p (2-tailed) = 0.17727.

Conclusions: Graduate OT students were successful in completing the REBA and RULA for operating surgery residents. This study will guide future interprofessional ergonomic initiatives between OT students and surgical trainees.

Author(s) Disclosures: Authors have nothing to disclose