The influence of backrest angles on the passenger neck comfort during sleep in the economy class air seat without head support |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Stanford Sleep Epidemiology Research Center, Division of Public Mental Health and Population Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, USA;2. National Sleep Foundation, Arlington, VA;3. Sleep Research and Treatment Center, Dept. of Psychiatry, Penn State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA;4. Sleep-Wake Disorders Center, Department of Neurology, Gui-de-Chauliac Hospital, National Reference Network for Narcolepsy, INSERM U1061, Montpellier, France;5. Department of Pediatrics, Priztker School of Medicine, Biological Sciences Division, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA;6. Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy;7. IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Bologna, Italy;8. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA;9. Division of Public Mental Health and Population Sciences, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA;10. Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA |
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| Abstract: | The purposes of this study were to characterize the influence of seat back angle variations on the neck comfort of sleeping passengers without a pillow and provide suggestions for the design of economy-class seats. In this study, 17 subjects were subjected to a sleep experiment to test the effect of the backrest angle on head and neck rotation and the fatigue level of the neck muscles. The results showed that a reclined backrest (positioned at 110°) caused greater rotation of the head and neck and greater fatigue of the neck muscles than a vertical backrest. Additionally, the higher was the subject's head extended above the top of the backrest, the more complicated the head and neck rotation was and the more intense the stretching of muscles was. We conclude that, when sleeping in a sitting position without head support, passengers were more likely to experience neck muscle fatigue with the reclined backrest than with the vertical backrest. Passenger height was also found to be an important factor contributing to head and neck fatigue. On the basis of the experimental results, we offer suggestions for the design of backrests to improve passengers' sleeping experience. Our research and suggestions provide a new path for innovation in the design of economy-class seats and could help to improve the travel experience. |
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| Keywords: | Airplane seat Sleeping while sitting Neck fatigue Backrest angle Head and neck rotation |
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