Saskia Baltrusch

222 Chapter 8 not see the reason for wearing it preventative. The ergo coach however saw a benefit in a prevention strategy and remarked: “I would advise it [the exoskeleton]” (Pim, Ergo Coach) The process coordinator explained: “I think that it really depends on your personality. I think If I look back at myself 30 years ago, I also wouldn’t have worn it. Now, because you have or had [low-back] complaints, I think, I don’t want these complaints anymore, so in hindsight I would wear it.” (Martijn, Process Coordinator) 4 Discussion Using a mixed method approach, we found increased self-efficacy after trying out the exoskeleton and collected factors from the employee’s and management perspective that might influence the acceptability of an exoskeleton in the working environment. The results indicate the potential acceptability of such devices but also highlight the importance of an adequate implementation strategy and how certain design characteristics, such as comfort, time of adjustment and visibility can influence acceptability of an exoskeleton. Self-efficacy base scores were relatively high, considering that a self-efficacy score <56 is hypothesized to be predictive for non-return to work [29]. However, this was expected, since we recruited participants with low-back pain who still performed in their occupation. The unchanged self-efficacy score in the expectation condition indicates that participants at first sight did not expect the exoskeleton to help them in the tasks that were depicted in the questionnaire. The large range of scores over participants in that condition implies that expectations regarding the device were quite different. After trying out the exoskeleton, however, the self-efficacy score significantly increased, indicating that participants in general believed that wearing the device would help them performing the depicted tasks in the questionnaire. The focus group study confirmed this outcome. Luggage handlers were open to wear the exoskeleton during their work and saw the potential of an exoskeleton to reduce low-back load. Also, the tasks that were rated with higher self-efficacy when wearing the