A Review of: “Human Error in Medicine”, edited by MARILYN SUE BOGNER,Lawrence Erlbaum,Hillsdale (1994), pp. xv + 411, 536-00 (pbk). ISBN 0-8058-1386-1; $79·95 (hbk), ISBN 0-8058-1385-3.

This work investigated maximal voluntary lateral hand pulling force in 18 healthy, habitually active men. Measurements were made in standing at different static angles of lateral trunk flexion, as well as at different constant lifting and lowering velocities. Movement was constrained to the frontal plane, velocity was controlled by an isokinetic dynamometer, pulling force was measured with a strain gauge and overall lateral angular displacement of the trunk by an electrogoniometer. Mean peak pulling force values ranged from 478 to 658 N (static), 291 to 528 N (lifting), and 801 to 911 N (lowering), respectively. The static pulling forces were the highest in flexed positions to the loaded side (10 and 20 trunk angles). In lifting, peak and position-specific pulling force decreased with increasing velocity. Peak lifting force occurred in a flexed trunk position of 7 to 9 to the loaded side. In lowering, pulling forces were significantly higher than during lifting at corresponding velocities and showed less changes with velocity. Peak lowering force occurred at a trunk angle of- 7 to- 11, that is towards the unloaded side. In conclusion, maximal voluntary pulling force in the frontal plane was found to be task dependent. Lowering was accompanied by higher forces and a different velocity and position dependency than lifting which, in addition to the fact that the trunk muscles act predominantly eccentrically during the lowering task, may impose an increased risk of injury.     

Book Review: Jerry Fodor,The Mind Doesn't Work That Way,Cambridge, MA: Bradford Books/MIT Press, 2000, 126 pp., ISBN: 0-262-06212-7

Minds and Machines -