Director
ICAR - Central Institute for Women in Agriculture
Bhubaneswar - 751003, Odisha, India

Pratap Ergo Tools

Physical Profile

Selected women must be given enough of rest and then her resting heart rate was measured with the heart rate monitor. After the complete rest, the woman be asked to perform the stepping activity on the Step-stool Ergometer for maximum of 5 min. with a uniform stepping rate of 30 steps-min. During the stepping activity. The heart rate can be recorded for every one minute with Heart Rate Monitor/or any other instrument/watch. After 5 min. of stepping activity, the woman should be asked to stop and sit comfortably on the resting chair and then her recovery heart rate must be recorded after every 1 min. for a period of 5 min. each:

Male   Female  Others

Physical Test Evaluation
FactorsScaleResult
PFI< 80 (Poor Physical Fitness)81-100 (Low Average)101-115 (High Average)116-135 (Good)136-150 (Very Good)> 150 (Excellent)
Quetelet Index< 20 (Ectomorph)21-25 (Mesomorph)> 25 (Endomorph)
BMI< 18.5 (Under Weight)18.5-24.9 (Healthy Weight)25.0-29.9 (Overweight)30.0-30.9 (Obesity)>40 (Severe Obesity)
VO2Max (I/min) < 15 (Poor)16-25 (Low Average)26-30 (High Average)31-40 (Good)41-45 (Very Good)> 45 (Excellent)
Energy Expenditure < 5 (Very Light)5.1-7.5 (High)7.6-10.0 (Moderately Heavy)10.1-12.5 (Heavy)12.6-15.0 (Very Heavy)
CCR
CCW
TCCW< 90 (Very Light)91-105 (High)106-120 (Moderately Heavy)121-135 (Heavy)136-150 (Very Heavy)
Physiological Cost Of Work< 90 (Very Light)91-105 (High)106-120 (Moderately Heavy)121-135 (Heavy)136-150 (Very Heavy)

Activity Profile (Optional)

Each selected women was given rest and her resting heart rate was recorded after every one min. interval for 10 mins.

She was then told to perform the maize shelling activity for 20 min. and heart rate was recorded for entire period of the activity at the interval of 5min, each.

After the completion of the activity, her recovery period was also measured for a period of 10 mins. or till she came to her resting state at the interval of 1min. each.

During the performance of the activity, postural change, grip fatigue and musculo- skeletal problems were also recorded

Postural analysis: Postural analysis of the lumbo sacral region during the performance of the activity was measured with the help of flexi curve. The angle of bend of the back during the performance of the activity was measured and compared with the normal bend of the back and the angle of deviation was determined by subtracting the normal angle of bend from the angle of bend during the bending posture.

Musculo-skeletal problems: Incidence of musculo- skeletal problems were identified using the Body Map (as shown in the fig.) indicating pain in different parts of the body after the completion of the activity. Five-point scale was used to record the intensity of pain in the various body parts viz. 5, 4, 3, 2 and I for the intensity of pain as very severe, severe, moderate, mild and very mild respectively. Selected rural women performed the activity of cleaning of grains again with the use of improved technologies for the period of 20 minutes and the heart rate was recorded in the similar procedure as in the case of traditional method of doing the activity. Each experiment was replicated twice with the traditional method and with the use of improved technologies in order to elicit reliable data.

Temperature and relative humidity were measured twice during the activity with the help of suitable instruments.

Scoring Scale
Parameters 1 (Very Light) 2 (Light) 3 (Moderate) 4 (Severe) 5 (Very Severe)
Ankle
Buttlocks
Elbow
Eye
Fingers
Foot
Knees
Legs/Calf Muscles
Lower Arms
Lower Back
Mid Back
Neck
Palms
Shoulder
Shoulder Joint
Thighs
Upper Arms
Upper Back
Wrist
Body Type Evaluation
ScaleParametersResult
Very Light
Light
Moderate
Severe
Very Severe
Activity Test Evaluation
FactorsScaleResult
Energy Expenditure < 5 (Very Light)5.1-7.5 (High)7.6-10.0 (Moderately Heavy)10.1-12.5 (Heavy)12.6-15.0 (Very Heavy)
CCR
CCW
TCCW< 90 (Very Light)91-105 (High)106-120 (Moderately Heavy)121-135 (Heavy)136-150 (Very Heavy)
Physiological Cost Of Work< 90 (Very Light)91-105 (High)106-120 (Moderately Heavy)121-135 (Heavy)136-150 (Very Heavy)