Documents Work. A Journal of Prevention, Assessment, and Rehabilitation 2 results

"BACKGROUND:
The popularity of mobile computing products is well known. Thus, it is crucial to evaluate their contribution to musculoskeletal disorders during computer usage under both comfortable and stressful environments.
OBJECTIVE:
This study explores the effect of different computer products' usages with different tasks used to induce psychosocial stress on muscle activity.
METHODS:
Fourteen male subjects performed computer tasks: sixteen combinations of four different computer products with four different tasks used to induce stress. Electromyography for four muscles on the forearm, shoulder and neck regions and task performances were recorded.
RESULTS:
The increment of trapezius muscle activity was dependent on the task used to induce the stress where a higher level of stress made a greater increment. However, this relationship was not found in the other three muscles. Besides that, compared to desktop and laptop use, the lowest activity for all muscles was obtained during the use of a tablet or smart phone. The best net performance was obtained in a comfortable environment. However, during stressful conditions, the best performance can be obtained using the device that a user is most comfortable with or has the most experience with.
CONCLUSIONS:
Different computer products and different levels of stress play a big role in muscle activity during computer work. Both of these factors must be taken into account in order to reduce the occurrence of musculoskeletal disorders or problems."

"Training and provision of assistive devices are considered major interventions to prevent and treat low back pain (LBP) among workers exposed to manual material handling (MMH). To establish the effectiveness of training and provision of assistive devices in preventing and treating LBP an update of a Cochrane literature review was performed to November 2010. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort studies with a concurrent control group (CCTs) were included. Nine RCTs (20.101 employees) and nine CCTs (1280 employees) were included for prevention: six more than in the previous version. No study on treatment was found. None of the included RCTs and CCTs provided evidence that training and provision of assistive devices prevented LBP when compared to no intervention or another intervention."