ORIGINAL PAPER
The effects of the seat cushion contour and the sitting posture 
on surface pressure distribution 
and comfort during seated work
			
	
 
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				Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, China
(Department of Industrial Design)
				 
			 
										
				
				
		
		 
			
			
		
		
		
		
			
			 
			Online publication date: 2020-07-27
			 
		 		
		
		 
	
							
					    		
    			 
    			
    				    					Corresponding author
    					    				    				
    					Wenhua  Li   
    					Northwestern Polytechnical University, Department of Industrial Design, Youyi Road (West) 127, 710072 Xi’an, China
    				
 
    			
				 
    			 
    		 		
			
																																 
		
	 
		
 
 
Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2020;33(5):675-89
		
 
 
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ABSTRACT
Objectives: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of the seat cushion contour and the sitting posture on the seat pan interface pressure
distribution and subjective comfort perception. Material and Methods: Overall, 16 volunteers typed a text passage on a laptop while seated,
by assuming 3 kinds of common sitting postures (forward, relaxed and upright) in 4 seat cushion configurations: chair only, and chair with 1 of 3
supplementary cushions. Pressure data and cushion comfort ratings were collected in the experiment. Results: It was found that the sitting posture
and the seat cushion contour had different impacts on surface pressure. The seat cushion contour had an impact on pressure parameters and pressure
distribution on the seat pan, while the sitting posture affected the location of peak pressure on the seat pan. The correlation analysis revealed that
the subjective comfort rating was significantly correlated with average pressure (AP) and mean peak pressure (MPP). Conclusions: The conclusion
was that the cushion contour had a greater effect on seat pan interface pressure parameters than the sitting posture. Notably, AP and MPP can be
indicators for assessing seat cushion comfort in a short-term perspective. Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2020;33(5):675–89