Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Studies demonstrated that fatigue accumulation during long time driving can lead to lumbodorsal muscles functional disorder for drivers. 
OBJECTIVE: To explore the optimized evaluation parameter for muscle functions in the neck for people dealing with driving taxi work for long time by discussing the nerve discharge features of their muscles in the neck, and to provide some references for diagnosing and preventing occupational muscle disorders in the neck.
METHODS: A total of 35 middle-aged taxi drivers participated in the test. The control group comprised healthy volunteers with matched gender and age but without a medical history of pain in the neck and low back. The ME6000 surface electromyography equipment was used to record the discharge status of the eight muscles of the participants sitting with computer operation, namely, muscles on the two sides of C3 and C7 in the neck. The test aims to observe the changes of the root mean square amplitude (RMS) and mean frequency (MF).
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: A 120-minute sitting stance operating the driving can trigger the fatigue of muscles in the neck for participants in the test groups and control groups. However, the slope of RMS for muscles on the two sides of C3 and C7 muscles in the test group was much higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05). The intercept for RMS curve fitting of muscles on the two sides of C3 and C7 was much greater than that in the control group, while the slope of MF was significantly higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05). In addition, the intercept for MF curve fitting of muscles on the two sides of C3 and C7 muscles was much lower than that in the control group (P < 0.05). The results suggested that it will trigger fatigue of muscles in the neck if you driving a taxi with a sitting stance for a long time. In addition, long-time work involving driving a car is expected to lead to accumulated fatigue of muscles in the neck, as well as asymmetry in discharge for muscles in both sides. In the judgment for muscle fatigue of long-time driving a car with a sitting stance, the reliability of the frequency domain parameter MF and RMS.