Musculoskeletal complaints associated with computer use and its ergonomic risks for office workers of a medical sciences university in Tehran

Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a background questionnaire was used      to determine individuals and computer use habits’ characteristics. A total number of 164 office workers of AJA University of Medical Sciences participated in this study. Musculoskeletal complaints were assessed using standardized Nordic questionnaire, and ergonomic risk assessment was done using rapid office strain assessment (ROSA) checklist. All data were analyzed by Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 17.

Results: A number of 123 participants filled the questionnaires. The average age of participants was 33.40 ± 6.51 years old. The most frequently reported musculoskeletal complaints were related to neck (58.53%) and lower back (58.53%) for men and knee (66.66%), lower back (64.61%)   and neck (61.53%) for women. Based on risk assessment results, 46.34% of office workstations were high risk. The mean ROSA final score was 5.18 ± 1.23 (high risk). The prevalence of musculoskeletal complaints was significantly more among office workers who worked in a high risk environment. The pains were considerable in the neck (74.54%) and lower back (80%). Conclusion: Prevalence of musculoskeletal complaints among office workers of AJA University of Medical Sciences is high. Ergonomic interventions such as computer workstation redesign   and office ergonomics training should be considered to prevent the related health problems, especially for high risk   workstations.