Musculoskeletal Pain among Computer Users

Objective: The objective was to assess muscle pain as an effect of utilizing computers for more than five hours and identify the variables associated with the occurrence of pain and the measures taken to prevent. Methods: It is a descriptive study conducted on 249 subjects in different private organizations in UAE. All those who mentioned wrist, back or neck pain without any pre-existing musculoskeletal problems among those who work on computer for more than 5 hours were included in the study. Questionnaires were distributed to all those who satisfied the inclusion criteria in each of the offices identified. Results: A significant association was noticed between age and wrist pain and no significant association was observed between gender, onset of pain and wrist pain. Higher frequency of back pain was noticed in older age group compared to younger. Neck pain was found to be higher among participants between 60-69 years of age. The incidence of pain in the wrist was more in men than in women and a similar pattern was seen in hand and back pain too. Our study shows a positive relation between sleep hours and musculoskeletal pain. Conclusion: We concluded that wrist, neck and back pain is more prevalent in younger age groups and it increases as the duration of computer use increases. Pain was a problem in majority of people working on computer for more than 5 hours.