The prevalence of ergonomic problems in computing among year 1 and year 2 medical students of the faculty of medicine and health sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak

Loo, Adrian Wei Nam and Franco, Joseph and Nur Shaheera, Shukor and Nuraishah, Md Nor (2011) The prevalence of ergonomic problems in computing among year 1 and year 2 medical students of the faculty of medicine and health sciences, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. [Final Year Project Report] (Unpublished)

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Abstract

The purpose of this research is to study the prevalence of ergonomics problems in computing among year 1 and year 2 medical students of Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS), Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. Students generally carry out a lot of computer related tasks which notably typing. Inadvertently, some cases of ergonomics problems will arise. Working with computer for hours can result in ergonomics problems such as neck stiffness, back pain, dry eyes and many more. Thus, as medical students ourselves, we decided to conduct a research in order to identify the problems related to ergonomics in computer usage. The main objective of this study is to identify the factors contributing to ergonomics problems and their prevalence among the students. Questionnaire-based survey was applied to collect data with targeted participants from year 1 and year 2 medical students. Eye discomfort is the most prominent ergonomic problem as only 22 students (13.6%) were not affected by eye discomfort. Neck pain is the second most prevalent ergonomic problem experienced by the students. 86 out of 162 participants (53.1 %) were affected by this symptom while operating computers. In a cross-tabulation study between the amount of time allocated on computer usage and eye problems, this study had concluded that prolonged exposure towards computer screen does not necessarily lead to eye problems. This is because certain measures could be taken in order to prevent eye problems due to computer usage such as using antiglare screens, having frequent intennittent eye rests, sufficient lighting, proper adjustment of computer screen positions and positioning of the eyes from the computer monitor at an appropriate distance.

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