ArticleAnnals of work exposures and health2020
Physical Work Demands of Childcare Workers in Denmark: Device-Based Measurements and Workplace Observations Among 199 Childcare Workers from 16 Day Nurseries.
Article in Annals of work exposures and health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Physical Activity Levels of Early Childhood Educators: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Child: care, health and development · 2026Pooled it
- The Use of Wearable Systems for Assessing Work-Related Risks Related to the Musculoskeletal System-A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Pooled it
- Copen-SCALE: scaling-up an effective intervention to childcare institutions in Copenhagen - a stepped wedge type II hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial. A study protocol.BMC public health · 2025Article
- What determines childcare workers physical behaviours at work? An investigation of determinants at the institution, team, and worker levels in Danish day nurseries.Annals of work exposures and health · 2025Article
- Musculoskeletal Complaints Among Female Childcare Workers in German Daycare Centres-A Survey Study with a Comparison Group.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- High-Knee-Flexion Posture Recognition Using Multi-Dimensional Dynamic Time Warping on Inertial Sensor Data.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Reliability and Accuracy of Standard Reference Procedures for Measurements of Trunk and Arm Postures in Ergonomics.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Article
- Physical Work Demands of Maintenance Workers on Onshore Petroleum Facilities in Norway: An Observational Study Utilizing Wearable Sensor Technology.Annals of work exposures and health · 2023Observational
- Wearable Motion Capture Devices for the Prevention of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders in Ergonomics-An Overview of Current Applications, Challenges, and Future Opportunities.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Assessment of Physical Work Demands of Home Care Workers in Norway: An Observational Study Using Wearable Sensor Technology.Annals of work exposures and health · 2022Observational
- How does accelerometry-measured arm elevation at work influence prospective risk of long-term sickness absence?Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health · 2022Article
- Does Childcare Work Promote Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Health? A Cross-Sectional Study of Danish Childcare Workers Based on Accelerometry and Heart Rate Measurements.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Effects of Sensor Types and Angular Velocity Computational Methods in Field Measurements of Occupational Upper Arm and Trunk Postures and Movements.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Can Childcare Work Be Designed to Promote High Intensity Physical Activity for Improved Fitness and Health? A Proof of Concept Study of the Goldilocks Principle.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesChildcare workers in Denmark have high prevalence of musculoskeletal pain (MSP) and sickness absence, but the existing knowledge of their physical work demands is limited, hampering preventive initiatives. This study aimed to assess the physical work demands with accelerometers and workplace observations of childcare workers handling children age 0-3.
methodsData collection consisted of an electronic survey, anthropometric measurements, accelerometer measurements providing information of physical activity types and postures with Acti4 software from five consecutive workdays, as well as 4-h visual workplace observation per childcare worker from 16 Danish nurseries.
resultsIn total, 199 childcare workers were enrolled in the study. A total of 4181 working hours of accelerometer measurements and 722 h of workplace observations were carried out. Accelerometer measurements showed that they spent about half of the working day (44.8%) in sedentary postures, and the rest standing (22.8%), moving (13.0%), walking (14.6%), running (0.1%), and climbing stairs (0.7%), with 4.1% in knee straining postures (kneeling and squatting) and 4.3% forward trunk inclination >60°. Workplace observations showed that they carried children 1.8% of the working hours.
conclusionsPhysical work demands of Danish childcare workers are characterized by about half of the workday being sedentary, and the remaining of the workday being quite evenly distributed between standing and dynamic activities, with low exposures to carrying children. Their exposure to forward bending of the trunk and knee straining postures could impose a risk for MSP and sickness absence, and preventive initiatives should be considered.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.