A pilot study for defining characteristics of Turkish women via anthropometric measurements

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Cengiz, Tulin Gunduz

Affiliations: Department of Industrial Engineering, Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey. Tel.: +90 224 2942089; Fax: +90 224 2941903; E-mail: tg@uludag.edu.tr

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The anthropometric characteristics of the Turkish female population are needed for the design of safe and ergonomically efficient workplaces. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the anthropometric characteristics of the Turkish female population in one region. For this purpose, 56 anthropometric parameters were measured according to ISO 7250. PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred and twenty-five Turkish women participants who were aged 18+ years were selected to participate in the study. METHODS: The measurements were obtained with an anthropometry measuring set. Principal component analysis was used to create statistical models to draw on information from two or more databases to estimate values for a large range of anthropometric variables. A reliability analysis was carried out on survey data to ensure the internal consistency of the constructs. RESULTS: The results of this study showed that the following five factors allow for a good general description of human body shapes for the Turkish female population: "corpulence", "length of body parts", "upper body length", "length of arm" and "hip-thigh region". CONCLUSIONS: The data provided by this study can help to solve a wide range of design problems, including product ergonomics and workplace ergonomics in manufacturing.

Keywords: Anthropometry, workplace design, factor analysis, ergonomics, Turkish female

DOI: 10.3233/WOR-141836

Journal: Work, vol. 49, no. 4, pp. 713-722, 2014