Investigation of the Anthropometric and Ergonomic Fitness of Classroom Chairs and Desks in Three Selected Primary Schools in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia

Abstract

In the classroom, students spend the majority of their time seated in school chairs. However, enough consideration has not yet been given to the design of chairs or chairs and desks in three selected primary schools utilizing the anthropometric data of the users. The main purpose of this study was proposed and carried out to measure the body size of primary school students, identify the cause of student discomfort in classrooms, if any, and determine the optimal relationship between body size measurement and classroom chair and desks ergonomics, in order to ensure the health and learning performance of primary school students in Dire Dawa. Two hundred and ninety-three (293) students were sampled for this study. Various body dimensions, such as S, SH, SEH, SShH, TC, KH, PH, BPL,HW, EH, BKL and FAHL of the students, and their respective chairs and desks dimensions, such as seat height (SH), seat depth (SD), seat width (SW), desk height (DH), and seat to desk clearance (SDC) were measured using a standard measuring tape, human caliper, and zigzag rule. The collected data were computed using an SPSS statistical package and excel as necessary and analyzed using mean, maximum, and minimum. The allowable chairs and desks design was determined using the 5th, 50th, and 95th percentile. The results of the study showed a substantial level of mismatch between the anthropometric measures of students and the dimensions of the chairs and desks available to them for use in both age ranges. Therefore, it is clear that, the mean value and the percentiles of the anthropometric measurements of female students in both age categories are somewhat greater than those of male students except HW. This research was limited to primary school pupils aged 5 to 8 years, excluding those aged 9 to 12 years and beyond. As a result, it's critical to include the latter age group in future research. Furthermore, because of the reliance on several factors, this study needs to be replicated in other parts of Ethiopia in order to create full anthropometric data for each community, and these data should also be updated on a regular basis.