Prospective research on musculoskeletal disorders in office workers (PROMO): study protocol

Abstract

Background: This article describes the background and study design of the PROMO study (Prospective Research on Musculoskeletal disorders in Office workers). Few longitudinal studies have been performed to investigate the risk factors responsible for the incidence of hand, arm, shoulder and neck symptoms among office workers, given the observation that a large group of office workers might be at risk worldwide. Therefore, the PROMO study was designed. The main aim is to quantify the contribution of exposure to occupational computer use to the incidence of hand, arm, shoulder and neck symptoms. The results of this study might lead to more effective and/ or cost-efficient preventive interventions among office workers.

Is peak exposure to computer use a risk factor for neck and upper-extremity symptoms?

“…Data were used from the PROMO (prospective research on musculoskeletal disorders in office workers) study, a cohort study with a follow-up of 24 months (16). Assessment of the health outcome took place at baseline and every three months during follow-up using a web-based questionnaire.…”

“…All included participants had office work as their main job function. Further information on inclusion criteria can be found in IJmker et al (16). In total, 1951 out of 9161 (21%) employees signed informed consent forms and completed the first questionnaire.…”

“…We selected potential confounders based on previously reported risk factors (16). The variables age, gender, and "symptoms during the year before baseline" were assessed with the baseline questionnaire.…”

The effect of overcommitment and reward on muscle activity, posture, and forces in the arm-wrist-hand region – a field study among computer workers

“…See figures 2a-c for an illustration of the participant set-up. Additionally, a questionnaire identical to the one used in the Prospective Research on Musculoskeletal Disorders in Office Workers (PROMO) study (25), containing potential confounders, was completed.…”

Analysis of Conditions and Organization of Work of Notebook Computer Users

“…Therefore, it may be assumed that working long hours with a notebook in non-ergonomic conditions (random location of a workstation, no additional devices such as an external keyboard, document stand, footstool) and, on the other hand, failure to have regular breaks result in musculoskeletal pain [2,3,4,5,6].…”