S. Esmail et al., GENDER DIFFERENCES IN WORK PERFORMANCE ON THE BALTIMORE THERAPEUTIC EQUIPMENT WORK SIMULATOR, The American journal of occupational therapy, 49(5), 1995, pp. 405-411
Objectives. The purposes of this study were to (a) establish biomechan
ical and physiological normative data for healthy young women performi
ng three tasks on the Baltimore Therapeutic Equipment work simulator (
BTE): wheel-turn, push-pull, and overhead-reach; and (b) compare these
data with previously reported values for healthy men of a similar age
group. Method. Twenty women completed five test sessions: (a) task fa
miliarization on the BTE to determine the work intensity that was perc
eived as hard on the Borg scale, (b) incremental test on an arm crank
ergometer to measure peak oxygen uptake (VO2) and peak heart rate (HR)
, and (c) one of the three tasks in random order for 4 min during the
next three sessions. Physiological responses were monitored with a met
abolic cart interfaced with an electrocardiogram. Results. Torque, wor
k, and power during the three tasks were significantly higher (p < .05
) in men than in women. The absolute VO2 (L. min-1) during these tasks
was higher in men, but when the VO2 was calculated relative to body w
eight (ml.kg-1 .min-1), no significant (p > .05) gender differences we
re observed. Computation of energy expenditure relative to body weight
and power output (cal.kg-1 .W-1) indicated that women expended signif
icantly (p > .05) more energy than men. No significant (p > .05) gende
r differences were observed for VO2 and HR when the values were expres
sed as a percentage of their respective peaks. Conclusions: Findings i
ndicated that (a) the functional work capacity is significantly lower
in women than in men, (b) women are less efficient than men when the e
nergy expenditure is expressed per unit of body weight and power outpu
t, and (c) the relative physiological stress in men and women is simil
ar under these conditions.