354 Employees in 8 companies

At Kongsberg Maritime, 38 of the 62 employees participating in the study experienced pains in neck and shoulders every week, sitting on a traditional office chair. After 6 weeks using the Backapp products, this number was reduced to 22.

Participants

Kongsberg Maritime in Kristinehamn produces equipment for the shipping industry. 62 of the employees with office jobs, participated in the field trial. There were 36 women and 26 men with an average age of 45. They exchanged their traditional office chair with the Backapp chair and Backapp 360 balance board.

Process
The participants were trained in how to use the Backapp chair and the Backapp 360 balance board. They answered a questionnaire at the start of the field trial, after 6 weeks and 6 months. The questionnaire was developed by an independent third party who received the completed forms and calculated and tabulated the statistical data.

LESS PAIN IN THE LUMBAR AREA

28 of 62 participants experienced pain in the lumbar area using their traditional office chair. After 6 months using the Backapp products, this was reduced to 23! (see Table 1)

LESS PAIN IN THE NECK AND SHOULDER AREA

Before the trial started, 38 of 62 (62%) experienced pain in the neck and shoulder area. After 6 months using the Backapp products, this was reduced to 22! (see table 1)

LESS HEADACHES

23 of the 62 experienced headaches during and after work on a weekly basis. After 6 months using the Backapp products, this was reduced to 12! (see Table 1)

LESS PAIN IN ARMS AND HANDS

15 of 62 participants experienced pain in the arms and hands every week. After 6 months using the backapp products, this was reduced to 9! (see table 1)

THE NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS WITH A PAIN FREE UPPER BODY INCREASED 3.3 TIMES

Only 8 of the 62 experienced no upper body pain using their traditional office chair After 6 months using the Backapp products, number this increased to 16! (see table 1)

THE AVERAGE REDUCTION OF AREAS WITH WITH PAIN DECREASED FROM 1.7 TO 1.2

Pain areas include the lumbar, shoulder, neck, head, arms and hands. (Tabell 2)

Results

Table 1

Which of the following types of pains have you experienced during a normal work week. Number of participants.

Table 2  

Which of the following types of pains have you experienced during a normal work week. Multiple choice. Number of participants.

• Lower back pain/stiffness
• Shoulder and neck pain/stiffness
• Headaches during or after work
• Arm and/or hand pains
• None of the above

Report from Force Technology.