Asian Journal of Home Science

Madhu Dadwal ¹, Jatinder Kishtwaria ¹, Aprajita Katoch ¹, Aruna Rana ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Family Resource Management, College of Home Science, C.S.K. Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur, H.P., IN

Abstract

Thus, the present study was planned with the following objectives (a) to study the physical features and pattern of computer use by the selected respondents and (b) to examine the musculo skeletal problems faced by women users. Random sampling technique was used to select a total sample of sixty female computer users from all constituent College of the Agricultural University Palampur that is College of Home Science, College of Agriculture, College of Basic Sciences and College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences falling within the age range of 21-35 year who worked at least for two hours daily. The musculo-skeletal problems were identified using the body map to ascertain the degree of severity of pain on a five point scale (Varghese et al., 1996). Most important factor for musculo-skeletal problems was the long work hours in sitting position in the same posture with repetitive movements of the eyes, head, arms and fingers. The results revealed that the height of the computer consoles used by the respondents was 78 cm with keyboard tray height of 68 cm. Majority (63.33%) of the respondents worked very frequently for 4 hours on computers which was one of the most important factors responsible for musculo-skeletal problems because the computer user is constrained due to sitting in the same posture for long period of time. Persistent pain in the neck (87%), shoulder (80%), swelling in lower legs (72%) and numbness in feet (77%) were some of the musculo-skeletal problems faced by the computer users. Thus, it was important that some exercise and 10-15 minutes rest period should be incorporated in between the computer work.

Keywords

Musculo-skeletal Disorders, Computer Users

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