NCT06564519

Resident Posture Biofeedback Study

Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself: A Wearable Biofeedback Device to Decrease Surgical Resident's Time in a Non-upright Posture and Work-related Musculoskeletal Pain

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 12 (actual)
• Sponsor: Wake Forest University Health Sciences · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

While a majority of surgical ergonomic studies have been evaluating attending surgeons, few have evaluated surgical ergonomics within the surgical resident. Biofeedback devices can be partnered with education and geared towards surgical residents to decrease current and future musculoskeletal disorders, which may in turn lead to longer and more fulfilling careers.

Detailed description

This study aims to use a commercially-available posture training device for surgical residents that sends biofeedback in the form of a gentle vibration if posture has deviated from the upright (neutral) position for a long period of time. For residents performing minimally-invasive procedures with a laparoscopic approach, our overarching hypothesis is that the time spent in a non-upright position will be less after using the posture biofeedback device compared with before. The study hypothesizes that residents will report fewer complaints related to musculoskeletal pain after wearing the posture training device. Residents completing general surgery rotations will be recruited and wear a biofeedback device for about four weeks while performing laparoscopic procedures. Posture data from the device and survey data in the form of the Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire (CMDQ) will be collected and analyzed.

Conditions

• Postural; Strain
• Healthy

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	Posture Biofeedback Device	Participants will wear a commercially available posture training device for a two-week tracking period and a two-week training period while performing laparoscopic procedures.

Timeline

• Start date: 2024-09-26
• Primary completion: 2025-11-02
• Completion: 2025-11-02
• First posted: 2024-08-21
• Last updated: 2025-12-17

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States

Regulatory

• FDA-regulated device study