ErgoPART: A Computerized Observational Tool to Quantify Postural Loading in Real-Time During Surgery

OCCUPATIONAL APPLICATIONS Ergonomics postural assessment in real-time (ErgoPART) is a new job analysis tool designed to systematically characterize the postural demands of performing surgery. Tasks, equipment, and procedures that require ergonomic intervention can be identified. ErgoPART can also be used to quantify the benefits of ergonomic interventions that reduce the frequency and duration of non-neutral postures. Preliminary tests, conducted in the context of vaginal surgery, indicate that the tool is easy to learn and may allow broad categories of neck, shoulder, and trunk postures to be coded reliably. ErgoPART is freely available for use. TECHNICAL ABSTRACT Background: Little quantitative information exists regarding the postural demands placed on surgeons in the operating room. One reason for this is the lack of minimally invasive tools available to characterize the duration and frequency of non-neutral postures during surgery. Purpose: The objective of this study was to develop an ergonomics job analysis tool to evaluate, in real-time, the postural requirements of performing surgeries with minimal intrusion to the work, and to complete a preliminary evaluation of the tool. Method: A team of vaginal surgeons first identified the need to systematically observe and characterize body postures during surgery. Ergonomics postural assessment in real-time (ErgoPART) is a computer-based tool that was developed via an iterative design process between these surgeons and ergonomics researchers, and designed to characterize environmental, task, and postural variables during surgical work. A preliminary inter-observer reliability assessment was conducted during one vaginal surgery, involving four observers with varying degrees of ergonomics experience. Results: ErgoPART's data collection interface facilitates recording of basic information about the surgery, task information, surgeon's position with respect to the surgical field, operating room features, and tracking of broad categories of neck, trunk, and shoulder postures. A unique feature is that the computer interface provides visual feedback about the status of postural codes in the form of a virtual mannequin and dynamic color-coded buttons to reduce coding misclassification during observation. Quantitative information about the frequency and duration of non-neutral body posture categories for the entire surgery, and for specific surgical tasks, is available immediately after the observations are completed via Microsoft Excel™ spreadsheets. Measures of inter-observer reliability indicated that the tool may provide a reliable assessment of the duration and frequency of surgeons' non-neutral postures during vaginal surgeries. Conclusions: ErgoPART allows multiple body postures to be assessed simultaneously, can be used to study the contributions of the individual, environment, tools, and task demands on working postures, and helps quantify the frequency and duration of non-neutral body postures. More research is planned to further evaluate the inter-observer reliability and methodological validity of the tool.