Musculoskeletal symptoms and computer use among Finnish adolescents - pain intensity and inconvenience to everyday life: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundMusculoskeletal symptoms among adolescents are related to the time spent using a computer, but little is known about the seriousness of the symptoms or how much they affect everyday life. The purpose of the present study was to examine the intensity of musculoskeletal pain and level of inconvenience to everyday life, in relation to time spent using a computer.MethodsIn a survey, 436 school children (12 to 13 and 15 to 16 years of age), answered a questionnaire on musculoskeletal and computer-associated musculoskeletal symptoms in neck-shoulder, low back, head, eyes, hands, and fingers or wrists. Pain intensity (computer-associated symptoms) and inconvenience to everyday life (musculoskeletal symptoms) were measured using a visual analogue scale. Based on the frequency and intensity, three categories were formed to classify pain at each anatomic site: none, mild, and moderate/severe. The association with time spent using the computer was analyzed by multinomial logistic regression.ResultsModerate/severe pain intensity was most often reported in the neck-shoulders (21%); head (20%); and eyes (14%); and moderate/severe inconvenience to everyday life was most often reported due to head (29%), neck-shoulders (21%), and low back (16%) pain. Compared with those using the computer less than 3.6 hours/week, computer use of ≥ 14 hours/week, was associated with moderate/severe increase in computer-associated musculoskeletal pain at all anatomic sites (odds ratio [OR] = 2.9-4.4), and moderate/severe inconvenience to everyday life due to low back (OR = 2.5) and head (OR = 2.0) pain.ConclusionsMusculoskeletal symptoms causing moderate/severe pain and inconvenience to everyday life are common among adolescent computer users. Daily computer use of 2 hours or more increases the risk for pain at most anatomic sites.

Primary headaches among adolescents and their association with excessive computer use

“…Xavier et al 18 state that adolescents abusively using electronic devices have higher chances (OR=1.52) of having headache. The literature also states that overload of visual system and maintenance of inadequate postures for long periods are reflected in headache reports by adolescents 2,9 . Notwithstanding our results being in agreement with most current literature and presenting statistical and social relevance, the study was limited by the fact of generalizing results for students of a public school and extending them to private school students.…”

“…Devices such as cell phones, computers, electronic games, tablets and TV have been used both for school purposes and leisure 2,3 . Due to easy access to electronic devices more time is spent with them and, as a consequence, negative impact on adolescents' health have been reported in the literature, such as sleep changes, tiredness, anxiety, depression, overweight, de-ORIGINAL ARTICLE DOI 10.5935/1806-0013.20150049 creased levels of physical activities, decreased concentration, musculoskeletal pain, stress and headache [3][4][5][6][7] .…”

Evaluating the Impact of IT on University Students of Bahawalpur with Special Reference to Free laptop Distribution by Govt. of Punjab

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Neck/shoulders pain and its relation to the use of tv/computer/videogame and physical activity in school students from Bauru

“…Some studies show a relation between a low level of physical activity and neck/shoulders pain (7,8,9), while others (10,11,12,13,14,15,16) do not report an association between physical activity and neck/ shoulders pain among school students.…”