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Papers of the Week


2022 Oct 08


J Pers Med


12


10

Job-Related Performance and Quality of Life Benefits in First Responders Given Access to H-Wave Device Stimulation: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Authors

Abstract

Current chronic pain treatments primarily target symptoms and are often associated with harmful side-effects and complications, while safer non-invasive electrotherapies like H-Wave device stimulation (HWDS) have been less explored. The goal of this study is to evaluate first responder-reported effects of HWDS on job-related and quality-of-life measures. This is a retrospective cohort study where first responders were surveyed following voluntary use of HWDS regarding participant experience, frequency of use, job-related performance, and quality-of-life. Responses were analyzed using means comparison tests, while bivariate analysis assessed responses associated with HWDS usage. Overall, 92.9% of first responder HWDS users (26/28) reported a positive experience ( < 0.0001), with 82.1% citing pain reduction ( = 0.0013), while 78.6% indicated it would be beneficial to have future device access ( = 0.0046). Participants using H-Wave were at least six times more likely to report higher rates of benefit (100% vs. 0%, = 0.022), including pain reduction (91.3% vs. 8.7%, = 0.021) and improved range-of-motion (93.3% vs. 69.2%, = 0.044). Spending more time with family was associated with better job performance following frequent HWDS use (50% vs. 8.3%, = 0.032). Repetitive first responder H-Wave use, with minimal side effects and easy utilization, resulted in significant pain reduction, improvements in job performance and range-of-motion, and increased time spent with family, resulting in overall positive experiences and health benefits. Level of Evidence: III.