Critical Factors in Opening Pharmaceutical Packages: a Usability Study among Healthcare Workers, Women with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Elderly Women

User-oriented evaluation of mechanical single-channel axial pipettes.

Hand tools should be designed so that they are comfortable to use, fit the hand and are user-oriented. Six different manual, single-channel axial pipettes were evaluated for such objective outcomes as muscular activity, wrist postures and efficiency, as well as for subjective outcomes concerning self-assessed features of pipette usability and musculoskeletal strain. Ten experienced laboratory employees volunteered for the study. The results showed that light and short pipettes with better tool comfort resulted in reduced muscular activity and perceived musculoskeletal strain when they were compared with a long and heavy pipette. There were no differences in the efficiency between the differ…

Evaluation of ergonomics and efficacy of instruments in dentistry

Abstract: Purpose: To evaluate the ergonomics and efficacy of five instruments used in dentistry for scaling and root planing. Methods: This experimental study with a comparative cross-sectional design was carried out during a simulated scaling and root planing task. Seven female dentists and one dental hygienist aged 26–58 years participated. Five instruments were evaluated in a subjective analysis of usability and musculoskeletal strain and with measurements of muscular activity, postures of the upper limbs, and work productivity. Results: The instruments with the thickest (diameter of 12–14 mm) silicon handles caused the lowest perceived strain in both the fingers/palm and the thumb. Wor…

Note: Critical Factors in Opening Pharmaceutical Packages: a Usability Study among Healthcare Workers, Women with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Elderly Women

This cross-sectional study compared the usability of pharmaceutical packages to determine the critical factors involved in packages with different opening mechanisms. Four packaging types (a bottle with a screw cap, a box with a pill plate, disposable plastic droppers with a container and a jar with a hinge cap) were evaluated by 45 women (nurses, older women and women with rheumatoid arthritis). Usability was evaluated for subjective measures related to the ease of opening and for objective measures related to the time needed to open the packaging, electrical muscular activity (electromyography, EMG) and ranges of motion of the upper extremities. Of the arthritic women, 13% were unable to …