Breathing Patterns During Job-Related Tasks for Home Healthcare Workers Influencing Aerosol Exposure.

Home healthcare workers (HHCWs) experience a higher incidence of hazardous bioaerosol exposures compared to workers in many other occupational sectors. This study explores how the working postures of HHCWs influence lung volume, which would relate to aerosol exposure assessments of these workers. A...

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Publicado en:Home Health Care Management & Practice Vol. 38; no. 3; pp. 208 - 215
Autores principales: Bellacov, Ryan L., Davis, Kermit G., Wang, Jun, Kotowski, Susan
Formato: research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: Sage Publications Inc. Aug2026
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Aug2026
      vid: 38
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      pub: Sage Publications Inc.
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        atl: Breathing Patterns During Job-Related Tasks for Home Healthcare Workers Influencing Aerosol Exposure.
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          Bellacov, Ryan L.
          Davis, Kermit G.
          Wang, Jun
          Kotowski, Susan
        affil: University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA
      sug:
        subj:
          Respiration Evaluation
          Home Health Care
          Home Health Aides
          Aerosols
          Environmental Exposure
          Task Performance and Analysis
          Funding Source
          Human
          Male
          Female
          Adult
          Descriptive Statistics
          Tidal Volume
          Oxygen Consumption
          Respiratory Rate
          Analysis of Variance
          Post Hoc Analysis
          Spirometry
          Pearson's Correlation Coefficient
          Anthropometry
          Prospective Studies
          Quantitative Studies
          Adult: 19-44 years
          Male
          Female
      ab: Home healthcare workers (HHCWs) experience a higher incidence of hazardous bioaerosol exposures compared to workers in many other occupational sectors. This study explores how the working postures of HHCWs influence lung volume, which would relate to aerosol exposure assessments of these workers. A controlled laboratory study investigating 8 job tasks for 20 HHCWs including static trunk postures (upright, 30°, 60°, and 90°) and dynamic postures (patient lift and equipment lift). The dependent variables were oxygen consumption, tidal volume, and respiration rate. The HHCWs job tasks of patient handling and equipment lift had double the respiration rate compared to the static posture tasks (35 bpm vs 15 bpm). In the static job tasks, standing upright had a tidal volume of 12 L, with forward-leaning postures reduced to 8 L. When comparing amplitude abdominal expansion, forward-leaning postures gave the most differences, from 13.7 w to the lowest 2.2 w. The results of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post-hoc Tukey tests indicate that almost all tested postures have a significant impact on lung spirometry (p <.001; 15 of 20 postures). The study findings indicate that lung spirometry was altered by posture and activity level, which likely changes the aerosol exposures. HHCWs commonly perform patient handling tasks, not only putting themselves at risk for musculoskeletal injuries but also increasing bioaerosol risk. Failure to account for body postures may result in worker exposure being misestimated. This study demonstrated that posture and activity level influence aerosol exposure and needs be considered when investigating multiple exposures.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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