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.
Highlights
Musculoskeletal 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
We aimed to evaluate the intensity of computer-associated musculoskeletal pain and the level of inconvenience to everyday life caused by musculoskeletal symptoms among adolescent computer users
Pain intensity was reported as follows: girls reported more moderate/severe computer-associated pain than boys at all anatomic sites, except the low back, for which the prevalence was higher among the boys
Summary
Musculoskeletal 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. Konijnenberg et al [18] described and quantified impairment due to chronic pain from an unknown cause in a study with 149 children (mean age 11.8 years). They reported that children report impaired functioning in multiple domains of daily life due to musculoskeletal pain. Breen et al [20] investigated discomfort and posture while using computers in a small sample of 68 schoolchildren (mean age 9.5 years), finding that 16% of the children reported pain, mostly in the neck or back region, at the beginning and end of a computer session. Pain intensity increased during the session [20]
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