Understanding contributing factors to exoskeleton use-intention in construction: a decision tree approach using results from an online survey

Abstract

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are a major health concern in the construction industry. Occupational exoskeletons (EXOs) are a promising ergonomic intervention to help reduce WMSD risk. Their adoption, however, has been low in construction. To understand the contributing factors to EXO use-intention and assist in future decision-making, we built decision trees to predict responses to each of three EXO use-intention questions (Try, Voluntary Use, and Behavioural Intention), using online survey responses. Variable selection and hyperparameter tuning were used respectively to reduce the number of potential predictors and improve prediction performance. The importance of variables in each final tree was calculated to understand which variables had a greater influence. The final trees had moderate prediction performance. The root node of each tree included EXOs becoming standard equipment, fatigue reduction, or performance increase. Important variables were found to be quite specific to different decision trees. Practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Practitioner summary: This study used decision trees to identify key factors influencing the use-intention of occupational exoskeletons (EXOs) in construction, using online survey data. Key factors identified included EXOs becoming standard equipment, fatigue reduction, and performance improvement. Final trees provide intuitive visual representations of the decision-making process for workers to use EXOs.

Keywords:

• Exoskeleton acceptance
• implementation
• decision making
• ergonomic intervention
• workplace injuries

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Ethics statement

The study procedures were approved by the Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) of Virginia Tech (IRB #20-075) and the University of California, San Francisco (IRB #18-25003), and conducted in compliance with the ethical principles for research involving human subjects expressed in the Declaration of Helsinki.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported in part by CPWR through NIOSH Cooperative Agreement Number #U60-OH009762. The current contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of CPWR or NIOSH.