miller Health Occupational Health and Fitness

Index

116 NFAJS SEPTEMBER 2008

USEFUL LINKS

NEWSLETTER

FACT SHEETS

John Miller conducted a Crookback Clinic for The Group in September 2008.

28 people, 21 men and 7 women participants completed the following profiles: -

■ Health, Fitness and Wellbeing

■ Musculo-skeletal risk

The results are presented in graphic format, with commentary.

Click here to read what the assessments are all about

HEALTH, FITNESS AND WELLBEING PROFILE

The Health, Fitness and Wellbeing profile provides people with a very good idea of how well the various systems of the body are functioning, particularly the

• the mind

• autonomic nervous system

• immune system

• digestive system

• circulatory system

• elimination system

• musculo-skeletal system.

	Symptom	None		Not much			A fair bit			A lot
1.	Headaches	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
2.	Migraines	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
3.	Lack of energy and vitality	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
4.	Candida - jock itch, thrush, tinea ...	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
5.	Poor sleep. If on tablets score 10	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
6.	Snoring &/or sleep apnoea.	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
7.	Crook back, sore shoulders RSI ...	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
8.	Frequent colds, flu, sinus	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
9.	Unsettled stomach, reflux	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
10.	Irritable bowel, constipation, trots ...	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11.	Overweight - 1 point for every 2Kg	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
12.	Asthma	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
13.	Low level of aerobic fitness	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
14.	Chest pain, palpitations	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
15.	Rashes, itchiness, psoriasis, zits	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
16.	Mouth ulcers, cold sores	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
17.	Elevated blood pressure. Score 0 on pills	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
18.	Reduced libido	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
19.	Shakes, nervous ticks, mannerisms	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
20.	Grinding teeth	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
21.	Alcoholic drinks per day (2 pts/drink)	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
22.	Smoking. (1 pt/cigarette/day)	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
23.	Caffeine (1 pt/cup per day)	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
24.	Anxious about life in general	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
25.	Insecure/apprehensive about the future	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
26.	Sad or depressed (On medication, score 0)	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
27.	In wrong job for now	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
28.	Under-appreciated at work	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
29.	Under-appreciated at home	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
30.	Unhappy with family and romantic life	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10

Score

The score of a normal, fit and healthy human being is less than 20

Higher scores are symptomatic of dysfunction of one or more body systems.

People with high levels of stress usually score well over 100.

For people with a score of more than 80, the ‘background noise’ of their life is becoming louder and louder. It is hard to concentrate on your work when body systems are dysfunctional.

We know a fit and healthy group when we see the majority of scores below 40. This was not the case with this group. By and large higher scores are usually a reflection of

• low levels of fitness

• an inability to deal with what life and work are serving up to people.

Remember, it is not what happens, but how we deal with what happens that determines our level of stress.

Classification of average scores: Excellent - less than 40. Good - 41 - 50. Reasonable 51-60. Poor - over 60.

This profile is described as poor. The average score was 68. Anyone scoring more than 80 is putting up with a lot of 'background noise'.

HEALTH CLIMATE SURVEY

Based on scores received in the Health, Fitness and Wellbeing profile we've compiled a Health Climate Survey. Scores on each item have ranked - the higher the score the worse the problem. We added the scores for each item. The results appear in the table below.

Symptoms/ issues / concerns	% of people scoring over 5
Crook back, sore shoulders ...	61
Poor sleep	50
Overweight	50
Low level of fitness	50
Lack of Energy	39
Work-life balance	39
Snoring, sleep apnoea	32
Caffeine	29
Under appreciated at work	29
Headaches	25
Reflux, unsettled stomach	21
Irritable bowel, constipation etc	18
Elevated blood pressure	18	3
Frequent colds, flu, sinus	14
Anxious	14
Depressed	14	0
Wrong job	14
Financial status	14
Candida	11
Itchy, rashes, psoriasis	11
Grinding teeth	11
Alcohol	11
Smoking	11	3
Unhappy family life	11
Shortness of breath from asthma	7
Chest pain, palpitations	7
Mouth ulcers	7
Elevated cholesterol	7
Shakes, nervous mannerisms	7
Elevated glucose	4

We registered those scores of 5 and over as being a symptom, issue or concern, the most pressing of which have been highlighted.

Perception

Based on people's perception (where they gave a particular symptom a score of 5 or more, and backed up by objective scores) the key issues are

•	Obesity 50% of people said they were more than 10Kg over weight. It's a symptom of metabolic dysfunction and relates to high energy diets and low energy lifestyles. It's suggestive of elevated levels of insulin floating around the body, which is a precursor of all manner of body system dysfunctions - elevated blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, elevated blood glucose. The recommendation, 50% of people need to get out and exercise at lunch time and eat from the top of the Hourglass.

•	Snoring 32% of people said they snored. This is a surprisingly high number of people. The recipe for a good snore is to be male, be unfit and at least 20Kg over weight, to have high blood pressure, have a few drinks every night, be stressed out of their brain and sleep on their back.

•	Lack of energy 39% of people said they lacked energy. Low levels of energy come from many sources, including: - - lack of a good aerobic fitness training program - a diet high in wheat flour and sugar - dullness - ...

•	Fitness 50% said they were unfit. We recommend staff be given the greatest encouragement to leave the office at lunch time and get in some physical activity. One organisation we work for gives staff an hour and a half off for lunch, providing people exercise during that time. Fitness has a significant bearing on the scores for low levels of energy, poor sleep, snoring, depression and headaches.

•	Musculo-skeletal dysfunction 61% of people said they had some sort of musculo-skeletal dysfunction. Musculo-skeletal dysfunction goes with low levels of strength and flexibility. Those are greatest risk need encouragement to attend a strength and flexibility training program several times a week.

•	Rashes and itchiness Can be caused by a range of things: - - a body that's stressed producing too much cortisol - a toxic diet - a sluggish elimination system - itching to get away from something - ...

•	Headaches 25% of people said they regularly get5 headaches. Headaches are caused by - a diet high in wheat flour and sugar - caffeine withdrawal - lack of oxygen getting to the head - a sluggish elimination system - a head out of alignment due to tight and weak muscles - beating your head against a brick wall - ...

•	Colds and flu Symptom of a depressed immune system, one which can be strengthened by eating from the top of the Hourglass and getting plenty of aerobic exercise.

•	Under-appreciation at work 29% said they were under-appreciated at work. This is a course for concern and managers need to take note and put in train a series of measures to improve this score in say, 3 months time. This factor certainly needs addressing in more detail and re-evaluation.

•	Being in the wrong job 14% of people said they were in the wrong job. This is quite a low (and acceptable) score. Whilst there is usually a a high and positive correlation between people being in the wrong job and people saying they are under-appreciated at work, at NFAJS this was not the case with this group.

•	Diet A diet high in flour and sugar and low in fruit, vegetables and fibre leads to irritable and bowel, reflux.

	Depression and anxiety There is an epidemic of depression in our community and we encourage all organisations to target depression. Nobody was on anti-depressant medication. There is a significant core of depression that relates to poor health generally. All body systems are connected. It is important that these people be encouraged to have regular counselling - through the EAP or other counsellors - and be given encouragement to exercise at lunch time. The best book about depression I've read, and what you can do about it, and one that I recommend highly is by psychiatrist, David Servan-Schreiber, Healing Without Freud or Prozac.

	Blood pressure 3 people indicated they were on blood pressure medication. Blood pressure is a symptom of body system dysfunction relating directly to - lack of aerobic fitness - being over weight - being stressed.

	Smoking 3 people smoked. Now lets move heaven and earth to assist these people to give it away altogether.

MUSCULO-SKELETAL RISK FACTOR

Our musculo-skeletal risk factor profile looked at a range of parameters including mobility, strength and flexibility and whether people are training to keep themselves strong and flexible.

The musculo-skeletal risk factor profile is comprised of a mix of 7 objective and 3 subjective assessments.

• Current musculo-skeletal condition

• Abdominal strength test

• Upper body strength test

• Flexibility

• Functional mobility – the ability to sit down and stand up with ease.

• Shoulder function

• Dominant hand grip

• Non-dominant hand grip

• Flexibility training behaviour

• Strength training behaviour

A score of 70% is attainable by those who have a regular and systematic training program.

Those scoring less than 70 are not doing sufficient in the way of strength and flexibility exercises. They are therefore exposing themselves to a high risk of musculo-skeletal dysfunction. (It would be bizarre for a workplace to offer to pay the rehabilitation costs of people who were not keeping themselves strong enough or flexible enough to do their job without succumbing to musculo-skeletal dysfunction, wouldn't it?)

This risk to The Organisation is much higher than the risk we see in other organisations. This is a poor result.


A poor result. Most people are experiencing some pain and discomfort. Those scoring less the 6 need to be required attend a prehab/rehab program, for their own benefit and that of the organisation.		As a group this is not a good result. Too many people were overweight. Being overweight greatly compromises mobility.

Generally speaking a good result. 4 people performed poorly.		This is a poor result. 8 people couldn't do one sit up. Two thirds of the people failed the test. This means that the strength of the muscles on the front of their body is not sufficient to keep their pelvis and spinal column in good alignment.

This is a poor result. 3 people couldn't do one press up. Half the participants failed the test. They are leaving themselves open to upper back, shoulder and arm dysfunction.		This is a poor result. 8 people couldn't touch their toes at all. 7 people could only just get touch their toes. Too many people have tight muscles along the back side of their body - calves, hamstrings, buttock and back. It's caused by two things - sitting down and not having a flexibility program. There is a high risk of lower back and neck dysfunction.

A poor result. 6y people were in such poor shape they didn't attempt the test, which involved getting down on the floor and back up again. Too many people are lacking mobility. Being overweight dramatically reduces mobility.		A mediocre result. A third of the group had dysfunctional shoulders.

Its always the case, few people have a regular strength and flexibility program. The organisation needs to put in train a regular and systematic training program, on site, that includes 1. specialist prehab and rehab sessions for those at serious risk and those already dysfunctional. 2. daily strength and flexibility sessions for all staff.

Average score: 51. Not good. These people are not in particularly good shape. The risk of musculo-skeletal dysfunction is high due to low levels of strength and flexibility. There is a strong case for the organisation to implement an obligatory strength and flexibility program for those who scored less than 60 in this profile.

Lack of strength and flexibility is something that the Organisation needs to take seriously and monitor carefully and put in place an organisation-wide strategy to improve musculo-skeletal function. By far and away a high proportion of people do not have a strength and flexibility program. As a result they are getting weaker and tighter by the week, thereby exposing themselves and the organisation to risk.

When push comes to shove and people become dysfunctional, it will be The Organisation that ends up paying the high cost of an avoidable musculo-skeletal complaint. Click here to read the article from injury to dysfunction. Click here to read about swifties and fallacies.

In our opinion musculo-skeletal dysfunction caused by lack of a regular and systematic strength and flexibility program cannot be classified as an injury. Responsibility for musculo-skeletal dysfunction needs to be sheeted home to individual employees, though it’s unlikely to happen without the establishment of a culture within the organisation that supports, values and understands strength and flexibility.

We recommend a range of strength and flexibility classes that are readily available Australia-wide: -

•	Posture and Flexibility
•	Yoga
•	Crookback Clinic
•	Tai Chi
•	Pontius Pilates

The Organisation would place itself in the forefront of OH&S practice if it took the musculo-skeletal risk seriously and moved heaven and earth to educate all staff about this risk and encourage them to take part in a regular strength and flexibility program. Maybe The Organisation and its worker's compensation insurer could invest in a pilot program to increase staff strength and flexibility!

The lack of strength and flexibility training coupled with poor abdominal strength, upper body strength, flexibility, shoulder function and grip strength is a cause for concern and needs the attention of individual staff and managers.

RECOMMENDATION

We strongly recommend that the people who are in current poor musculo-skeletal condition, and who lack abdominal strength, upper body strength, flexibility, shoulder function and functional mobility, in particular those who scored less than 60 on the profile, be obligated to attend regular, in-house strength and flexibility classes.

The pressure on the organisation's workers' compensation costs is such that to do otherwise would, in our opinion be to abrogate a responsibility for the prudent management of the organisation's finances.