Musculoskeletal symptoms and duration of computer and mouse use

Abstract

The primary aim was to study associations between duration of computer and mouse use and musculoskeletal symptoms among computer users. A questionnaire was delivered to 5033 employees in 11 Danish companies and institutions and 3475 subjects responded (69%). Logistic regression analyses on 2579 full-time working employees showed that working almost the whole working day with a computer was associated with neck symptoms (OR=1.92, CI: 1.21–3.02) and shoulder symptoms (OR=1.83, CI: 1.13–2.95) among women and hand symptoms (OR=2.76, CI: 1.51–5.06) among men. These odds ratios were adjusted for psychosocial factors. Among respondents working almost all of their work time with a computer the gender and age-adjusted odds ratio for mouse use more than half of the work time was 1.68 (CI: 1.22–2.31) for hand/wrist symptoms. Call center and data entry workers experienced the lowest possibilities for development at work. All work tasks involving computer use, except computer maintenance, were characterised by a higher frequency of movements than desk work without using a computer. Call center work was characterised by the highest level of repetitiveness as both work tasks and movements were perceived as repetitive. Relevance to industry Computer users with a long daily duration of computer use and mouse use experienced more musculoskeletal symptoms than those with a short duration of computer use. Computer work in general seemed characterised by repetitive movements, which may be a risk factor for musculoskeletal symptoms.