Vagal and sympathetic activity in burnouts during a mentally demanding workday.

Objective: We study differences in task performance and related sympathetic-vagal reaction patterns between burnouts and controls during a mentally demanding workday.

Method: Thirty-nine adults with burnout and 40 healthy controls performed mental tasks during a simulated workday. At pretest, just before lunch (lunch test) and at the end of the day (posttest), a Stroop color word task was administered as a probe task.

Concurrent validity of questionnaire and performance-based disability measurements in patients with chronic nonspecific low back pain.

This study aimed to investigate the concurrent validity of two approaches to disability measurement in patients with chronic nonspecific low back pain (CLBP). It was hypothesized that if both are measuring the same construct, the instruments would lead to similar disability results and would correlate strongly (r > 0.75).

Prediction of Musculoskeletal Discomfort in a Pick and Place Task (A pilot study).

A pilot study was conducted regarding the effects of working posture, handling frequency, and task duration on musculoskeletal discomfort. Participants rated their discomfort perceived while performing a repetitive task at 8 different combinations of manipulations. Pauses between the work periods lasted 15 min.