Saskia Baltrusch

13 Chapter 1 did not fall into one of these target populations. They participated in the initial benchmark testing. The patients that I recruited were all undergoing rehabilitation at Heliomare, but showed different levels of disability and large differences in how low-back pain influenced their daily life. They consequently represented a larger population of low-back pain patients. When recruiting employees, I aimed for companies performing manual labour, considering the occupational risk factor for low-back pain. I, therefore, contacted the Dutch airline company KLM and the Dutch automotive industry Mitsubishi Turbocharger and Engine Europe. Both companies have high prevalence of low-back pain among their employees. Working in the luggage handling department or working as operators and being responsible for assembling and sorting turbochargers, both population groups could give feedback on the exoskeleton in regard to their personal work environment. Other end-user groups that are important to take into consideration when introducing an exoskeleton in industry or rehabilitation are the management or health care professionals, as they bear the responsibility for introducing the exoskeleton. For this thesis, I aimed for a wide range of health care professionals to receive opinions on the use of an exoskeleton in rehabilitation from, amongst others: medical doctors, psychologists, physiotherapists and movement therapists. Since healthcare professionals see a variety of low- back pain patients, they can share their personal and professional experience. Recruiting managers from industry gives insight into factors that might affect the implementation of an exoskeleton in the work environment and information on economic aspects, such as time expenditure, costs, return of investments and potential implementation strategies. Thus, by involving potential end-users and decision makers from industry and rehabilitation, this thesis aims to gain insight into the optimal field of application for an exoskeleton, supporting the low-back. Combining quantitative and qualitative methods The user-centred approach in exoskeleton technology indicates the need for listening to the end-user, besides measuring objective features on mechanisms 1