Physical Rehabilitation With Ergonomic Intervention of Currently Working Keyboard Operators With Nonspecific/Type II Work-Related Upper Limb Disorder: A Prospective Study

Abstract

Povlsen B. Physical rehabilitation with ergonomic intervention of currently working keyboard operators with nonspecific/type II work-related upper limb disorder: a prospective study. Objective To evaluate the effect of a physical training program in combination with ergonomic changes in a group of keyboard operators with nonspecific/type II work-related upper limb disorder (WRULD). Design Prospective study. Setting Hospital department. Participants Pain-free controls (n=6) and currently working patients with WRULD (n=17) were included. Interventions Participants were taught how to self-rehabilitate according to a previously published physical exercise program, in addition the patients requested maximal ergonomic assistance from their employer according to British law. Main Outcomes Measures Pain at rest and after a standardized functional typing test, before and after rehabilitation, with recording of endurance and calculation of typing speed during the tests. Statistical evaluation: Student t test, paired, and 2-tailed. Results After the rehabilitation program, the patients as a group had significantly less pain both at rest ( P=.009) and after the typing test ( P<.001). The typing endurance improved significantly ( P=.027) and became similar to the healthy control group ( P =.09). The typing speed improved significantly in the patient group after rehabilitation ( P=.032) and became similar to the normal control group ( P=.058). Conclusions Currently working keyboard operators with nonspecific/type II WRULD can benefit significantly from a combination of an individualized self-administered physical rehabilitation program and ergonomic work place improvements. Randomized control studies are needed to further investigate the long-term effect of this encouraging finding.