Android Based Low Cost Sitting Posture Monitoring System

Back pain is one of the leading causes of disability-adjusted life year globally and the most common cause of low back pain is poor sitting posture. There are several actions that can be adopted proactively to avoid poor sitting posture induced back pain including behavioral change, regular exercise, and use of an ergonomic chair. However, these are either expensive and/or difficult to execute for prolonged periods. Sitting posture monitoring systems continuously observe the sitting pattern of a person in real-time and give feedback/alert poor sitting posture is observed. In this study, a real-time posture monitoring system has been designed and a functional prototype has been developed using simple electrical elements and an android application. Appropriate position of the sensor in the spine to measure the degree of bending and the threshold sensor values for good posture sittings have been determined based on the results from healthy volunteers of different ages and height. The android application continuously monitors the degree of bending and provides vibration when the bending reaches the threshold of bad posture or the duration of the sitting crosses the clinically recommended time limit to prevent prolonged sitting. Positive user feedback has been received in terms of comfortability, effectiveness, and satisfaction levels. The manufacturing cost of the developed monitoring system is minimal compared to the available expensive systems in the market and the cost would further go down if it is produced in bulk. This device efficiently monitors the sitting posture pattern to prevent back pain and within the affordable price range for the people from middle to under-developed countries.

I. Introduction

Proper sitting posture refers to the position in which natural spinal curvature and arm, shoulder, hip, and knee position are properly maintained and aligned. Incorrect posture gradually decreases the flexibility of the spine causing pain in neck, shoulder and back. Furthermore, incorrect sitting posture has detrimental effects on digestion and respiration. Back pain is recognized as a common health issue and 75-85% of adults deal with back pain at least once in their lifetime [1]. In 2016, low back pain and neck pain combinedly were the 4^th leading cause of disability-adjusted life year (DALY) globally [2]. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that 9.5 million people in South-East Asia were affected by back and neck pain. A descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among school teachers from different school in Dhaka showed 46% of school respondents have reported lower back pain [3]. Lack of knowledge of correct posture is assumed to be the primary cause of backache, yet a study that 60.8% of physiotherapists in Bangladesh have low back pain [4]. A cross-sectional study on Ready-Made Garment employees (RMG) of Bangladesh have reported 24.7% of female worker respondents had lower back pain and 23.% of female worker respondents had neck pain [5]. As many people spend most of the time sitting down in the workplace or home, bad alignment of sitting causes several problems such as bad support on muscles, ligaments, tendons and unhealthy spine [6].