Professor Leon Straker

Email:

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Description of Role

Professor
Director of Research and Higher Degree Programs

Qualifications

BAppSc(WAIT), MSc(Lond), PhD(Syd)

Teaching Areas

HD Research Supervision
Undergraduate Ergonomics

Research Interests

Computer use by children
Prevention of musculoskeletal disorders associated with computer use
Adolescent spinal pain
Manual handling

Recent Publications

Scholarly Journal - Refereed Article

Astfalck R., O'Sullivan P., Straker L, & Smith A (2010)
A detailed characteristisation of pain, disability, physical and psychological features of adolescents with non-specific chronic low back pain. Manual Therapy 15(3): 240-247.

Briggs A., Jordan J., Buchbinder R., Burnett A., O' Sullivan P., Chua J., Osborne R., & Straker L. (2010)
Health literacy and beliefs among a community cohort with and without chronic low back pain. Pain, 150, 275-283

Straker L., Levine J., & Campbell A. (2010)
The effects of walking and cycling computer workstations on keyboard and mouse performance. Human Factors 51(6): 831-44.

Straker L., Maslen B., Burgess-Limerick R., Johnson P., & Dennerlein J (2010)
Evidence-based guidelines for the wise use of computers by children: Physical development guidelines. Ergonomics, 53(4), 458-477.

Briggs AM, Bragge P, Smith AJ, Govil D, Straker LM (2009)
Prevalence and associated factors for thoracic spine pain in the adult working population. A literature review. Journal of Occupational Health, 51(3): 177-192.

Briggs AM, Smith AJ, Straker LM, Bragge P (2009)
Thoracic spine pain in the general population: A systematic review of prevalence, incidence and associated factors in children, adolescents and adults. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 10: 77.

Briggs AM, Straker LM (2009)
Thoracic spine pain in youth: Should we be concerned? The Spine Journal 9(4): 338-339.

Briggs AM, Straker LM, Bear N, Smith AJ (2009)
Neck/shoulder pain in adolescents is not related to the level or nature of self-reported physical activity or type of sedentary activity in an Australian pregnancy cohort. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 10: 87.

Briggs AM, Straker LM, Wark JD (2009)
Bone health and back pain: What do we know and where should we go? Osteoporosis International 20 (2): 209-219.

Coleman J., Straker L., & Ciccarelli M. (2009)
Why do children think they get discomfort related to daily activities? Work. 32(3), 267-274.

Maslen B., & Straker L. (2009)
A comparison of posture and muscle activity means and variation amongst young children, older children and young adults whilst working with computers. Work, 32(3), 311-320

Straker L. M., O'Sullivan P. B., Smith A. J., & Perry M. C (2009)
Relationships between prolonged neck/shoulder pain and sitting spinal posture in male and female adolescents. Manual Therapy, 14(3), 321-329.

Straker L., Abbott R., Piek J., Pollock C., Davies P., & Smith A. (2009)
Rationale, design and methods for a randomised and controlled trial to investigate whether home access to electronic games decreases children's physical activity. BMC Public Health, 9, 212.

Straker L., Burgess-Limerick R., Pollock C., & Maslen B. (2009)
The effect of forearm support on children’s head, neck and upper limb posture and muscle activity during computer use. Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology, 19(5), 965-974.

Straker L., Burgess-Limerick R., Pollock C., & Maslen B. (2009)
The influence of desk and display design on posture and muscle activity variability whilst performing information technology tasks. Applied Ergonomics, 40, 852-859.

Straker L., Maslen B., Burgess-Limerick R., & Pollock C. (2009)
Children have less variable postures and muscle activities when using new electronic information technology compared with old paper-based information technology. Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology, 19, e132-e143.

Straker L., Pollock C., & Maslen B (2009)
Principles for the wise use of computers by children. Ergonomics, 52(11), 1386-1401.

Straker L., Pollock C., Piek J., Abbott R., Skoss R., & Coleman J. (2009)
Active input provides more movement and muscle activity during electronic game playing by children. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction. 25(8), 713-728.

Straker L., Skoss R., Burnett A., & Burgess-Limerick R (2009)
Effect of visual display height on modelled upper and lower cervical gravitational moments, muscle capacity and relative strain. Ergonomics, 52(2), 204-221.

O'Sullivan P. B., Straker L. M., Smith A. J., Perry M. C., & Kendall G (2008)
Carer experience of back pain is associated with adolescent back pain experience even when controlling for other carer and family factors. Clinical Journal of Pain, 24(3), 226-231.

Straker L., Burgess-Limerick R., Pollock C., Coleman J., Skoss R., & Maslen B. (2008)
Children's posture and muscle activity at different computer display heights and during paper information technology use. Human Factors, 50(1), 49-61. IF=1.529

Straker L., Burgess-Limerick R., Pollock C., Murray K., Netto K., Coleman J. & Skoss R. (2008)
The impact of computer display height and desk design on 3D posture during information technology work by young adults. Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology, 18(2), 336-349. IF= 1.884

Straker L., Coleman J., Skoss R., Maslen B., Burgess-Limerick R., & Pollock C. (2008)
A comparison of posture and muscle activity during tablet computer, desktop computer and paper use by young children. Ergonomics, 51(4), 540-555.

Straker L., Pollock C., Burgess-Limerick R., Skoss R., & Coleman J. (2008)
The impact of computer display height and desk design on muscle activity during information technology work by young adults. Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology, 18, 606-617.

Conference Publication - Extract of Paper

Briggs AM, Jordan JE, Buchbinder R, Straker LM, Burnett AF, O’Sullivan PB, Metcalf D, Chua JC. Osborne RH (2009)
Back pain beliefs and self-management practices in the community: Relevance of health literacy. In Proceedings of the Australian Physiotherapy Association Congress, 1-5 October, Sydney.

Briggs AM, Straker LM, Bear N, Smith AJ (2009)
Neck/shoulder pain is not related to the level or nature of physical activity or type of sedentary activity in Australian adolescents. In Proceedings of the Australian Physiotherapy Association Congress, 1-5 October, Sydney.

Straker LM, Briggs AM, Smith AJ, Bear N (2009)
Chronic neck/shoulder pain and activity in RAINE study adolescents. In Proceedings of the Be Active 2009 Congress: Australian Conference of Science and Medicine in Sport, 6th National Sports Injury Prevention Conference, 7th National Physical Activity Conference, Brisbane 14-17 October.