Daily computer usage correlated with undergraduate students' musculoskeletal symptoms

Abstract

These data suggest a potential dose-response relationship between daily computer usage time and musculoskeletal symptoms.

Computer Use Patterns Associated with Upper Extremity Musculoskeletal Symptoms

“…Similar to Chang et al [7], we found generally increasing odds ratios for increasing hours of computer use using this classification of exposure. However, we also found a statistically significant association with experiencing any symptoms after 1-2 h of computer use compared to no use.…”

“…Break length was classified as none, less than 15 min, 15-45 min, and more than 45 min. In order to compare with previous work, a set of indicator variables was created to estimate the association between symptoms and 1-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-14 h of computer use compared to no computer use [7].…”

“…Additionally, clinical examinations administered to graduate students as part of a validation study found approximately 15% met criteria for an upper extremity musculoskeletal disorder [6]. Recently, using software installed on college students' computers to monitor computer usage a positive association with upper extremity musculoskeletal symptoms after 3 h of computer use was observed [7]. Studying computer use patterns of college students within a typical semester provides a significant opportunity to learn about an important part of the development of a major occupational disorder.…”

Musculoskeletal disorders among first-year Ghanaian students in a nursing college

“…This prevalence rate is in general agreement with the prevalence rates reported in the literature for college students which vary between 32.9% and 89.3% [6][7][8][9][10][11][13][14][15][16]18,19 . It is however higher than the 32.9% 8 and 36.9% 9 reported among nursing students in Japan, and lower than the 73.3% 18 and 80.0% 19 reported among nursing students in Korea and Australia respectively, as well as the reported prevalence among nurses at the workplace (i.e 78-84.4%) [30][31][32][33] .…”

“…They are a major cause of severe long-term pain and disability 1,2 , productivity loss 3 and reduced quality of life 4,5 which can lead to reduced educational attainment among students. In recent years, MSDs have emerged as a public health problem among college students, with the estimated prevalence rate varying between 32.9% and 89.3% in different parts of the world [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] . Factors such as computer usage [10][11][12][13]17 , female sex 6,7,14,17 , lack of regular exercise 13,18 and psychosocial stress and mental pressure 6,15 have been associated with increased prevalence of MSDs among this population.…”