Comparison between the Physiological Responses and Subjective Ratings of a Group of Male Students to Three Backpack Designs

Ramadan, Mohamed Z.; Al-Tayyar, Sultan N.

doi:10.3390/ijerph16214104

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Comparison between the Physiological Responses and Subjective Ratings of a Group of Male Students to Three Backpack Designs

Mohamed Z. Ramadan

and

Sultan N. Al-Tayyar

Industrial Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, King Saud University, P.O. Box 800, Riyadh 11421, Saudi Arabia

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(21), 4104; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16214104

Received: 13 October 2019 / Accepted: 24 October 2019 / Published: 24 October 2019

(This article belongs to the Section Children's Health)

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Abstract

It is important for schoolchildren and their parents (or guardians) to know which backpacks exert the least strain on the cardiorespiratory system. In this study, we investigated the physiological responses of participants while they were walking on a treadmill and wearing one of three different backpacks (A, B, and C) under two different load-carrying conditions (equivalent to 10% and 15% of their body mass, respectively). The first condition was used as a control and involved walking without a backpack, while the second involved wearing a backpack and carrying a certain weight. Thirty-one male students from King Saud University walked on a treadmill at 0.861 m/s and at a 0% inclination angle, while having their heart rates (beatsmin⁻¹), oxygen uptakes (VO2, mLmin⁻¹), respiratory rates (breaths, VO2min⁻¹), perceived exertion rates (PER, Borg scale), and backpack preference rates (BPR) measured and recorded. The results of our within-subject experimental design revealed that the physiological results varied significantly depending on the type of backpack. Backpacks B and C were superior to Backpack A, resulting in lower physiological responses and higher subjective preferences. Students carrying more weight experienced higher physiological stress; moreover, the use of Backpack C led to the lowest physiological strains and higher subjective preferences. View Full-Text

Keywords: load carriage; treadmill; walking; children; low back pain

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Ramadan, M.Z.; Al-Tayyar, S.N. Comparison between the Physiological Responses and Subjective Ratings of a Group of Male Students to Three Backpack Designs. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 4104. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16214104

AMA Style

Ramadan MZ, Al-Tayyar SN. Comparison between the Physiological Responses and Subjective Ratings of a Group of Male Students to Three Backpack Designs. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2019; 16(21):4104. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16214104

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ramadan, Mohamed Z., and Sultan N. Al-Tayyar. 2019. "Comparison between the Physiological Responses and Subjective Ratings of a Group of Male Students to Three Backpack Designs" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16, no. 21: 4104. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16214104

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Comparison between the Physiological Responses and Subjective Ratings of a Group of Male Students to Three Backpack Designs

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