Match between school furniture dimensions and children's anthropometric dimentions in male elementary schools

Given the important role of appropriate furniture in the posture of the students and that non ergonomic furniture can produce uncomfortable posture, low ‌‌‌back pain, neck pain, lack of concentration and discomfort, therefore, this study examine match between school furniture dimensions and children’s anthropometric dimensions in male elementary schools in Hamadan city. In this study 600 children have been studied. Their weight and height and their anthropometric dimensions included shoulder height, elbow height, knee height, popliteal height, popliteal-bottock length and hip breadth have been measured. Then, the fitness between current furniture's dimensions and calculated ergonomic dimensions have compared. Findings showed that dimensions of available furniture included seat height, seat depth, seat width, back rest height, desk height, underneath desk height and anthropometric dimensions of students was not matched. This study has shown that by increasing the seat depth and decreasing the seat height in new designs, they have relatively improved in compare with the old designs. Available school furniture dimensions in Hamadan elementary schools are not appropriate for most students and induce postural discomfort and musculoskeletal disorders. Key words: Ergonomics, Anthropometrics, Design, Furniture 1- Department of Ergonomics, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences Research Center, School of Public Health. Hamadan University of Medical Science, Hamedan, Iran. 2- Corresponding author, Ergonomics graduate student, School of Public Health, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran. 3- Professor, Department of Occupational Hygiene, School of Health and Research Center for Health Sciences, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran. 4- Roshanaei, Ghodratollah, Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology. Modeling of Noncommunicable diseases Research center, School of Public Health, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.