Influence of lumbar support prominence for a car seat in the seating pressure and discomfort perception

Abstract

The sustained and prolonged posture in driving is associated with leg and lower back musculoskeletal problems. The seat should allow the reduction of the pressure that the body exerts on the seat, the maintenance of the lordotic curve and the reduction of discomfort. Therefore, it was intended to study how a change in the prominence of the driver’s car seat lumbar support, affects discomfort perception, pressure, and force between the body and the seat pan. 30 male individuals were registered during the random use of 5 prominences of 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 mm respectively. The results suggest that unlike the average pressure, force and contact area (p-value > 0.05), the lumbar support prominence influences discomfort (p-value < 0.05). The 30 mm support has the best relationship between the pressure exerted by the body, force, and discomfort perception. On the contrary, the 50 mm support had the worst performance among all.