Authors (including presenting author) :
CHAU SL (1,2), Wong YC (1), So HP (2)
Affiliation :
(1)Occupational Therapy Department, Princess Margaret Hospital
(2)Occupational Medicine Care Service, Kowloon West Cluster
Introduction :
Computer work requiring repetitive motions of hand and wrist at prolonged sitting posture. Eye strain, musculoskeletal symptoms, fatigue and stress were commonly reported by many computer users. It became a chronic health problem and affected the ability to perform work-related activities if symptoms were neglected.
Objectives :
It aims at symptom survey of the user’s profile and service feedback so as to enhance the service provision.
Methodology :
It was a retrospective service review on the DSE improvement projects between the period of 1 January and 31 December in 2019. A total of 18 Display Screen Equipment (DSE) requests were received from work units in Kowloon West Cluster hospitals and General Outpatient Clinics (GOPCs). The subjects were recruited according to the criteria of the defined DSE users of the Occupational Safety & Health (DSE) regulation by the Labour Department of Hong Kong, i.e. the DSE user was required to use DSE almost every day for continuously for at least 4 hours during a day; or cumulatively for at least 6 hours during a day. Standardardized Nordic questionnaire and semi-structured interview were used to collect the demographic data & pattern of computer use and analyze the symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) of the subjects.
Result & Outcome :
A total of 64 subjects (23 males and 41 females) were included for analysis. Majority (46 subjects, 71.9%) were in the age groups of 41-60. Their occupations were clerical staff, nurse, pharmacist and manager, etc. The computer-related health issues were illustrated as below. There were 30 subjects (46.9%) reported symptoms such as ache, pain, discomfort in the preceding 12-month period and 15 subjects (23.4%) reported symptoms in the preceding 7-day period. 24 subjects (37.5%) reported MSD symptoms at more than 4 body parts. Among them the most common reported locations were wrists/hands (76.7%), back (53.3%), shoulder (33.3%) and neck (30.0%). 7 subjects (23.3%) reported bilateral upper limb involvement. There were 42 subjects (65.6%) reported no workplace stretching and 30 subjects (46.9%) did not have regular exercise. There were 6 subjects (9.4%) required to wear the protective splint at workplace because of pain over wrist / hand. The DSE Initial Checklist and Workstation Assessment Checklist were conducted for hazard identification. Ergonomic interventions were suggested according to the risk assessment results, e.g. administrative control (job rotation, work & rest break), engineering control (appropriate seating, workstation & accessories), work practice control (workplace stretching, re-organization of work tasks). Moreover a user’s feedback was collected from the service satisfaction survey returned by 16 work units (88.9%) by 31 December 2019. The respondents were required to rate a likert scale (0-10 for lowest to highest possible score) on the service satisfaction with average score of 9.4, while they agreed that the service help in improving staffs’ health at work with average score of 9.1.
Results suggest that the 12-month prevalence of MSD symptoms was higher as compared with tha data from UK and overseas studies. The biomechanical factors, such as repetition, prolonged awkward postures and inappropriate computer workstations would increase the risk of MSD symptoms, potentially resulting in work disability. Workplace stretching and regular exercise should be promoted to facilitate better health outcomes. Moreover targeted ergonomic interventions would greatly reduce the occurrence of MSD symptoms and improve health conditions of the defined DSE users.
