A questionnaire survey dealing with working conditions, job stress factors, health complaints, and psychological mood state was filled out by approximately 250 video display terminal (VDT) operators and 150 nonoperator control subjects at five participating work sites. Clerical VDT operators reported higher levels of job stress and health complaints but little difference in psychological mood state than did professional VDT operators and the control subjects. The job stressors showing the greatest impact on the clerical operators dealt with workload, workpace, lack of control over job activities, boredom, and concerns about career development. The health complaints that showed the greatest differences between the groups dealt with visual, musculoskeletal, and emotional health problems. The results indicate that job content factors and VDT use interact to contribute to VDT operator problems.

An onsite evaluation was conducted at five establishments using VDTs to examine VDT workstation designs and to compare these designs to recommendations obtained from the literature. Measurements were made of such critical design factors as keyboard height, screen height, workstation illumination, and glare. Illumination levels were generally in the 500 to 700 lx range, and questionnaire data confirmed that these levels were acceptable to most employees. A number of design problems were found in the VDT workstations, including excessive keyboard heights and screen positioning which would require excessive inclination of the head and neck for screen viewing. A majority of the operators surveyed found a number of factors to be bothersome, including screen readability, reflected glare, screen brightness, and flicker. A number of the dissatisfaction parameters were found to be related to levels of somatic (health) complaints.

Three groups of data entry female visual display terminal (VDT) workers from Norway (n = 30), Poland (n = 33) and the USA (n = 29) were compared. Before intervention, the Norwegian group reported more neck pain compared with the Polish group. The Polish group reported less shoulder pain than both the U.S. and the Norwegian groups. The clinical examination documented fewer symptoms and signs of musculoskeletal illness among the Polish participants compared with the Norwegian and the U.S. groups. After intervention, the Norwegian group reported a reduction in neck pain while the U.S. group reported a reduction in shoulder pain. The Polish group reported an increase in neck, shoulder and forearm pain at follow-up compared to after intervention. The Polish group recorded higher flexion of the upper arm at follow-up parallel with an increase of pain in the upper part of the body. Visual discomfort showed variable results in the 3 countries.

The United States MEPS (musculoskeletal--eyestrain--psychosocial--stress) study consisted of 1 group of 28 female data entry operators. The intervention was in 3 parts: workstation redesign (including advanced ergonomic chairs, motorized adjustable workstations, advanced adjustable keyboards, adjustable copyholders, adjustable footrests, monitor support surfaces) and ergonomic training/coaching and corrective lenses. After the intervention, statistically significant reductions in physical signs (trigger points, neck and shoulder mobility), subjective reports of intensity and frequency of musculoskeletal pain, and subjective reports of visual problems were observed. Static load during the work sample, as assessed by experts, improved after the intervention as did measured postural angles of head and trunk and subjective assessment of users of ergonomic characteristics of the workplaces. For all of these measures, improvements observed 1 month after intervention were also observed in the 1-year follow-up. Trapezius load, as assessed by electromyography (EMG), decreased after intervention, but then increased in the follow-up. The increase was interpreted as a calibration problem.

An investigation was undertaken of an apparent outbreak of contagious psychogenic illness at an electronics plant in which approximately 50 females reported a variety of subjective nonspecific symptoms. The workers believed that the physical symptomatology was triggered by an unidentified odor in the plant which was not verified by environmental sampling for chemicals or by medical evaluations of affected workers. A random sample of non-affected and affected workers was surveyed by means of psychological health status inventories and epidemiological indices to determine the role that life-history, personality characteristics and job dissatisfaction had on susceptibility to illness. Results indicated that those workers reporting the highest level of perceived stress due to job dissatisfaction, family problems, and personal conflict were most likely to experience somatic symptoms. In the present study sources of dissatisfaction identified as potential precipitating factors of the illness outbreak were: 1) working conditions, 2) supervisory style, and 3) personal lifestyle.