Health complaints associated with prolonged computer use as perceived by computer users

ABSTRACT

Computers have become ubiquitous in the office work place and their use is growing. They have many advantages for inventory management, record management, electronic communication and office automation. Computerized jobs are more sedentary; require more cognitive processing, mental attention and less physical expenditure of energy. Man y jobs that require heavy daily computer use have been found to be stressful. The length of working in front of video display units [ VDT] may be a direct cause of reported health complaints among computer users. This study is conducted to relate the duration of exposure to health effects resulting from computer use. The present study was carried out in different computer workstations at Alexandria and Mansoura cities. These work Stations were chosen from technical schools and private computer offices. The study included 600 computer users [271 from technical schools and 329 from private computer offices]. A structured questionnaire sheet was developed and used to assess the personal data of participants, appropriateness of workstation environment, and ergonomic criteria of computer station in addition to health complaints of the studied computer users. The results indicate that the majority of the studied population complained of musculoskeletal and eye discomforts