The Effect of observing Ergonomic Principles and Musculoskeletal Pain on the Quality of Life Dimensions of Computer Users in Hamedan City

Liana Chaharmahali; Farzaneh Gandomi

doi:10.18502/ohhp.v4i3.4655

Liana Chaharmahali
Farzaneh Gandomi

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/ohhp.v4i3.4655

Keywords: Computer users, Ergonomics, Rapid Office Strain Assessment, Quality of life.

Abstract

Introduction: Musculoskeletal disorders are one of the most common injuries among computer users, which probably affect the quality of life (QOL) and efficiency.

Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, 150 Nordic questionnaires were distributed among computer users in Hamedan province and a total of 110 questionnaires were collected. Later, 60 participants (female: n=20 and male: n=40) were evaluated based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Musculoskeletal disorders and workplace ergonomic principles were considered as independent variables and quality of life dimensions were investigated as the dependent variables. Rapid Office Strain Assessment (ROSA) was applied to evaluate workplace ergonomic, Nordic questionnaire was administered to evaluated musculoskeletal disorders, and SF-36 was used to assess QOL. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 22. Independent t-test and Pearson correlation coefficient were also run to analyze the data.

Results: According to the findings, 3% of users were in the safe zone, 16% in the alert zone, and 78% in the danger zone. The findings also showed that the most common pain segments were neck pain (85%) and back pain (75%) in women, but neck pain (52%) and back pain (55%) in men. Additionally, the results showed that ergonomics of the workplace has a negative and significant relationship with the physical dimension of QOL (R=-0/26, P=0/042). Musculoskeletal disorders have a negative and significant relationship with the general health dimension (R=-0/29, P=0/022) and with the pain dimension of the QOL (R=0/29, P=0/022). Moreover, a negative and significant relationship was observed between QOL and BMI (R=-0/49, P=0/001).

Conclusion: Based on the results, workplace ergonomics has an effect on the incidence of musculoskeletal disorders and ultimately the QOL of computer users in non-office environments and computer services.