Evaluation of Neck-shoulder Discomfort among VDT Workers

• Main Authors: Fan-Chi Guo, 郭凡綺
• Other Authors: Tai-Pau Chia
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/35088405127182700300

碩士 === 弘光科技大學 === 職業安全與防災研究所 === 100 === In a fast-moving world, computers had been popularly used in many aspects of our life. However, over-use of computers may results in poor vision, carpal tunnel syndrome and low back pain, etc. In a national survey of muscle pain of workers in Taiwan, the ratio of neck-shoulder pain was higher than other types of pain. Focused on VDT(Visual Display Terminal, VDT) workers, the purposes of this study were to (1) investigate the feasibility of using a non-invasion device to evaluate the health condition of shoulder. (2) evaluate the risk factors of neck/shoulder symptoms using questionnaire and physical examination. (3) compare the effectiveness of an intervention strategy for the prevention of neck/shoulder symptoms. 46 VDT workers were selected and divided into three groups – “Experimental group A” (n=19, short-exercise on-site), “Experimental group B” (n=13, self-exercise off-site), and the control group (n=14). Questionnaire survey and physical examination were conducted. Laser Doppler Flowmetry (LDF), a non-invasive method, was used to measure the microcirculation flux of human shoulder before and after short-exercise, as well as measure the microcirculation flux. SPSS12.0 software was applied for data analysis. Neck-shoulder pain levels, physical and mental health survey and LDF measurements for different groups were compared. It was found that: (1) more than 60% of the VDT workers reported neck-shoulder pain, and 66.7% recognized that neck-shoulder pain was attributed by VDT work;(2) work duration, age, neck symptoms, “left and right shoulder symptoms” were positively correlated with “personal impact” marginally; and the “neck, left shoulder pain” was negatively correlated with the break time marginally; (3) the intervention program has slightly positive effect on the shoulder and neck symptoms of the “Experimental group A”; (4) the physical health value (PCS), mental health values (MCS)of the three groups at 0 weeks were within the average range (50 ±10) of the norm；the average PCS score of the control group and “Experimental group A” score slightly declined after six weeks; on the contrary, the average MCS score of “Experimental group A” significantly increased after 6 weeks. The risk factors of neck-shoulder symptoms for VDT workers including age, work duration, break time during work and exercise habit, etc. LDF seemed to be a promising tool for early evaluation of shoulder symptom. It is suggested that short-time, group exercise seems have positive effect on the prevention of neck-shoulder symptoms for VDT workers, especially performing extended-whole body exercise.