Work related complaints of neck, shoulder and arm among computer office workers: a cross-sectional evaluation of prevalence and risk factors in a developing country

Background Complaints of arms, neck and shoulders (CANS) is common among computer office workers. We evaluated an aetiological model with physical/psychosocial risk-factors. Methods We invited 2,500 computer office workers for the study. Data on prevalence and risk-factors of CANS were collected by...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental health Vol. 10; no. 1; p. 70
Main Authors: Ranasinghe, Priyanga, Perera, Yashasvi S, Lamabadusuriya, Dilusha A, Kulatunga, Supun, Jayawardana, Naveen, Rajapakse, Senaka, Katulanda, Prasad
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London BioMed Central 04.08.2011
BioMed Central Ltd
BMC
Subjects:
Adult
Arm Injuries - epidemiology
Computer workers
Computers
Cross-Sectional Studies
Developing Countries
Earth and Environmental Science
Environment
Environmental Health
Ergonomics
Female
Health aspects
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Musculoskeletal diseases
Musculoskeletal Diseases - epidemiology
Neck Pain - epidemiology
Occupational Diseases - epidemiology
Occupational Medicine/Industrial Medicine
Office Automation
Office workers
Posture
Prevalence
Psychology, Industrial
Psychometrics
Public Health
Risk Factors
Shoulder Pain - epidemiology
Social Support
Sri Lanka
Surveys and Questionnaires
Work-related injuries
Workplace
Young Adult
Sri Lanka
Musculoskeletal diseases
Prevalence
Computer workers
Ergonomics
Risk factors
ISSN:1476-069X, 1476-069X
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Summary:Background Complaints of arms, neck and shoulders (CANS) is common among computer office workers. We evaluated an aetiological model with physical/psychosocial risk-factors. Methods We invited 2,500 computer office workers for the study. Data on prevalence and risk-factors of CANS were collected by validated Maastricht-Upper-extremity-Questionnaire. Workstations were evaluated by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Visual-Display-Terminal workstation-checklist. Participants' knowledge and awareness was evaluated by a set of expert-validated questions. A binary logistic regression analysis investigated relationships/correlations between risk-factors and symptoms. Results Sample size was 2,210. Mean age 30.8 ± 8.1 years, 50.8% were males. The 1-year prevalence of CANS was 56.9%, commonest region of complaint was forearm/hand (42.6%), followed by neck (36.7%) and shoulder/arm (32.0%). In those with CANS, 22.7% had taken treatment from a health care professional, only in 1.1% seeking medical advice an occupation-related injury had been suspected/diagnosed. In addition 9.3% reported CANS-related absenteeism from work, while 15.4% reported CANS causing disruption of normal activities. A majority of evaluated workstations in all participants (88.4%,) and in those with CANS (91.9%) had OSHA non-compliant workstations. In the binary logistic regression analyses female gender, daily computer usage, incorrect body posture, bad work-habits, work overload, poor social support and poor ergonomic knowledge were associated with CANS and its' severity In a multiple logistic regression analysis controlling for age, gender and duration of occupation, incorrect body posture, bad work-habits and daily computer usage were significant independent predictors of CANS Conclusions The prevalence of work-related CANS among computer office workers in Sri Lanka, a developing, South Asian country is high and comparable to prevalence in developed countries. Work-related physical factors, psychosocial factors and lack of awareness were all important associations of CANS and effective preventive strategies need to address all three areas.
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ISSN:1476-069X
1476-069X
DOI:10.1186/1476-069X-10-70