ELECTROMYOGRAPIC ACTIVITY OF THE ABDOMINAL AND PARAVERTEBRAL MUSCLES DURING COFFEE HARVESTING

ATIVIDADE ELETROMIOGRÁFICA DOS MÚSCULOS ABDOMINAL E PARAVERTEBRAL DURANTE A COLHEITA DE CAFÉ

ACTIVIDAD ELECTROMIOGRÁFICA DE LOS MÚSCULOS ABDOMINAL Y PARAVERTEBRAL DURANTE LA COSECHA DE CAFÉ

ABSTRACT

Introduction  The rural worker involved in the coffee harvest is an important person for the economy of the many countries. However, scientific studies on the health of this worker are rare.

Objective  To analyze the lumbar paravertebral musculature and abdominal rectus of rural workers during coffee harvesting with the manual machines with different footrest bases (inclined, declined and horizontal), by means of electromyography.

Methods  Eight male rural workers from the region of Muzambinho participated in the study. All procedures and electromyographic routines were applied according to the SENIAN protocol. The workers made the usual coffee harvesting movements, using the manual machine for one minute. The data are expressed as means and standard deviations. The RMS (root mean square) signal and the median frequency (FM) were also analyzed.

Results  It was observed that the type of footrest base did not influence the electromyographic activity RMS or the FM, but we found that the paravertebral muscles have greater electromyographic activation when compared to the abdominal muscles, regardless of the type of footrest base.

Conclusion  For the task performed, the paravertebral muscles present greater electromyographic activation compared to the abdominal rectus. Level of Evidence III; Diagnostic studies - Investigating a diagnostic test.

Ergonomics; Rural health; Electromyography; Low back pain