Standing, sitting and associated working conditions in the Quebec population in 1998

Abstract

Working posture is an important determinant of musculoskeletal and vascular health. Knowledge of the context and type of postures is necessary in order to examine their associations with health-related outcomes. This study describes self-reported usual working postures in a population and their associations with other working conditions and demographic variables. The 1998 Quebec Health and Social Survey is a population-based survey of 11,986 private households in the province of Québec. It contained a self-administered questionnaire, including an extensive occupational health section. The analyses in this study were limited to respondents with paid employment who had at least 6 months seniority in their current job, comprising 9,425 subjects. The overall prevalence of usual work in a standing posture is 58%; it is more common among men, workers under 25 years, those in the two lowest educational quintiles and those with incomes under $20,000 CAN. Only one person in six who works standing reports being able to sit at will. Women and men differ in the types of usual standing and sitting postures at work. Those who work standing and/or who work in more constrained postures are more likely to be exposed to other physical work demands, such as handling heavy loads, repetitive work, forceful exertion and low job decision latitude. The association between decision latitude and constrained postures is an important link between psychosocial and physical stressors in the workplace. In epidemiological studies, exposure covariation and interactions should be considered in the generation and interpretation of the associations between work postures and musculoskeletal disorders.

Keywords:

• Decision latitude
• Musculoskeletal
• Posture
• Sitting
• Standing
• Walking

Acknowledgements

This study was made possible through the kind assistance of Santé Québec, a division of the Institut de la statistique du Québec (ISQ), in providing the survey data. In particular, we thank the Direction de la méthodologie of the ISQ for verifying some analyses.

Karen Messing is the recipient of a Senior Investigator Award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and operating grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Fonds FCAR. This study is part of a series of studies being conducted by the Scientific Working Group on Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders of the Institut national de santé publique du Québec.