Musculoskeletal Disorders and Duration of Computer Use At Cape Coast Polytechnic, Ghana

Abstract

The aim was to determine associations between duration of computer use and musculoskeletal disorders among computer users. The objectives are: to identify the duration spent using the computer at the workplace; to determine musculoskeletal disorders on the computer users and to identify the condition of the office space. A total of 85 administrative staffs were randomly sampled for the study. A well-structured questionnaire was used for collecting data. Descriptive statistics was used to analyse the data in the form of frequencies and means. Logistic regression analyses on 85 full-time working employees showed that working almost the whole working day with a computer was associated with computer vision syndrome (which consists of eyestrain, tired eyes, irritation, redness, blurred vision, and double vision), headaches and backache recording very high mean scores as 4.73, 4.66, and 4.28   respectively. An excessive heat and or poor/inadequate lighting in the offices affect the computer users. The conclusions drawn from this study is the furniture used must be designed to reduce the musculoskeletal disorders of computer users. Ventilation and lighting systems must be provided in the offices to help save the eye sight and the general well-being of the administrative workers who constantly use the computers.

Keywords: Musculoskeletal, Ergonomics, Disorders, Duration, Computer users