Musculoskeletal symptoms and duration of computer and mouse use

The primary aim was to study associations between duration of computer and mouse use and musculoskeletal symptoms among computer users. A questionnaire was delivered to 5033 employees in 11 Danish companies and institutions and 3475 subjects responded (69%). Logistic regression analyses on 2579 full-time working employees showed that working almost the whole working day with a computer was associated with neck symptoms (OR = 1.92, Cl: 1.21-3.02) and shoulder symptoms (OR = 1.83, CL 1.13-2.95) among women and hand symptoms (OR = 2.76, Cl: 1.51-5.06) among men. These odds ratios were adjusted for psychosocial factors. Among respondents working almost all of their work time with a computer the gender and age-adjusted odds ratio for mouse use more than half of the work time was 1.68 (Cl: 1.22-2.31) for hand/wrist symptoms. Call center and data entry workers experienced the lowest possibilities for development at work. All work tasks involving computer use, except computer maintenance, were characterised by a higher frequency of movements than desk work without using a computer. Call center work was characterised by the highest level of repetitiveness as both work tasks and movements were perceived as repetitive.