A Survey of Musculoskeletal Disorder at Neck and Upper Extremities and Ergonomics Management in Computer Users

Abstract

Nowadays, the computer is one of the device which has been widely used for work 4.0 era. Many computer users are suffering from musculoskeletal disorders at the neck and shoulder becasue of their inappropriate behaviors, poor ergonomics and other risk factors. Thus, this study aimed  to explore the problems on the musculoskeletal system at neck and upper extremities, as well as ergonomic management in computer users. A cross-sectional descriptive study was applied to study the prevalence by collecting the data from 193 office workers from Khon Kean University. The questionnaire used in this study was consisted of demographic data. Descriptive statistics were also used for analyzing and identifying the obtained results of musculoskeletal problems. The results of this study revealed that the prevalence of pain at neck, shoulder and head were 40.65%, 21.14% and 17.9%, respectively. Most of them had moderate frequency of pain level (58.47%). In ergonomic management of computer users, most of the participants were rated poor on computer operations, including bend their trunks forward during the sitting position with insufficient rest period. Most of them (65.8%) believed that using smart phone during the day was one of major factors that caused their musculoskeletal disorders. Proper ergonomic training for office workers is suggested to reduce the magnitude and frequency of musculoskeletal disorders.