Design parameters influence on office chairs comfort

Back pain is reported as one of the main causes of absence from office work. Office furnishing, in particular office chairs, can help overcoming this problem, improving health and comfort for workers with a correct ergonomic approach. An experimental study was conducted on six different office chairs that were examined and then tested by twelve adult subjects. The effect of chair ergonomics on the perceived level of comfort was investigated by means of objective data obtained by a BPMS (Body Pressure Measurement System) and subjective evaluations were drawn from a questionnaire. Particular attention was paid to the calibration and equilibration of the measurement system. The results point out interesting and unexpected correlations between subjective and objective evaluations of the chairs.