This study presents data on self-reported prevalence of Musculo Skeletal Disorder (MSD) symptoms and psychosocial risk exposures by age and gender among a group of office based University workers who use their computers for at least 25% of their work day. Employees in two academic organisations received an invitation to participate in an on-line questionnaire. A total of n=852 office workers participated in this study; yet respondents who were employed for greater than 12 months were only included in the study cohort. Furthermore, participants were only considered for further analysis if they spent 50% or more of their workday in their office, and of this time at least 50% was spent on computer work (n=569). The study indicates that self-reported symptoms of MSDs for these workers were highest in the neck, shoulder and lower back. Neck, shoulder and back MSDs were higher for females than males, yet age differences within genders were not evident for these symptoms. For neck disorders, symptomatic individuals reported significantly higher levels of office work (p<0.05) and PC usage (p<0.005), and significantly lower levels of job content (p<0.01), job demands (p<0.05), and work environment (p<0.05) compared to asymptomatic participants. For the shoulder, symptomatic individuals exposure levels were significantly higher for office work (p<0.05) and PC usage (p<0.05) and significantly lower for job content (p<0.05) compared to asymptomatic individuals. There was evidence of important differences in the psychosocial exposures between age and genders, but associations between these differences and MSD symptoms were not present. 3.--If psychosocial risk factors indeed play such a large role in the development of this article, the discussion should be expanded on the topic.The discussion was updated to better represent the focus on psychosocial risks. Additionally, as per comment 2, the title now better represents the focus of the paper. The reviewers are also guided specifically to lines 339-352 and 455-461. 16. --In Table 3 the symbol for p<0.0005 appears somewhat awkward Updated symbol to "$".17.--The key in Table 3 also has an error; two age groups the same code (2). Corrected.18. --Review recent literature related to this topic.Updated. After a review of recent publications on Science Direct the follow two papers were cited within the paper.. . Highlights  Prevalence of self reported symptoms were highest for the Neck (58%), shoulder (57%) and lower back (51%). Neck, shoulder and lower back symptoms were not significantly different between age groups. Females reported a significantly higher prevalence of neck and shoulder symptoms in each of the age groups than for males. *Highlights (for review)Musculoskeletal disorder prevalence and psychosocial risk exposures by age 1 and gender in a cohort of office based employees in two academic institutions 2 3 4 Abstract 5 This study presents data on self-reported prevalence of Musculo Skeletal 6 Disorder (MSD) symptoms and psychosocial risk exposures by age a...

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Many people sustaining a traumatic brain injury experience vestibular pathology requiring physical therapy for treatment. This study measured improvements in gait speed and weight shift for subjects receiving vestibular physical therapy using a Computer-Assisted Rehabilitation Environment (CAREN). A 6-session CAREN, 6-session traditional vestibular therapy group was compared with a 12-session CAREN only (0 traditional sessions) therapy group. These two groups were compared to each other and with data from healthy controls performing similar tasks on the CAREN. Those participating in 12 CAREN sessions had greater improvements in gait speed (p=0.014) and weight shift scores (p<0.001) and demonstrated similar values achieved by a healthy control population.

In 2008, The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) reported that musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) were the most common work-related health problem in Europe. Females are considered more susceptible to MSDs than are males, and older workers are more vulnerable than are younger workers. Factors specific to the job, work organization, and individual have been implicated as potential risk factors, with current interest focusing on psychosocial risk factors and the pathology of disorders. Although there is some disagreement in the literature, there is growing support that, after controlling for exposure, females have a predisposition to MSDs. More is known of the role of psychosocial risks in MSD etiology, but it is unclear if there are differences in exposures across gender and age and if this has a resultant effect on injury rates. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of MSDs and trends with psychosocial risks, across age and gender. The study group consisted of 200 female and 132 male employees from varied occupations within Ireland, ranging from age 18-66 years. The most prevalent symptoms of MSDs were for the lower back, shoulder, and neck regions. Age and gender differences in prevalence were evident for these regions. There was a general trend for increasing prevalence with age. For the psychosocial risks, significant differences in job content exposures were observed across age groups for males (p < 0.05) and females (p < 0.0005). There were also differences in scores across the age groups for mental health (p < 0.0005) and insecurity at work (p < 0.0005) for the females. The conclusions are that there were not sufficiently strong differences in exposures to relevant psychosocial risks both between genders and across age for a resultant effect on MSDs. C 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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