Work-Related Health Disorders and Work Ability among Computer-Operating Workers

Abstract

Computers are key tools in every aspect of work and learning, from managerial activities to document preparation and electronic communication. The inappropriate use of computers can contribute to the health damage of the exposed operators. The aim of this article is to examine the prevalence of health disorders and to estimate the work ability index among computer operating workers. A total of 353 workers working with computers, aged 25-50 years, from five companies in the city of Nit, were divided into two groups according to the length of computer work during the day. The group 1 consisted of 182 computer-operating workers who worked longer than four hours per day with computer. The group 2 consisted of 171 computer-operating workers who worked less than four hours per day. The disorders of visual and musculoskeletal system, general health symptoms (headaches, fatigue, lack of concentration, and sensitivity to the light), and addiction to computers were statistically significantly more common in the group 1, than in the group 2 of the computer-operating workers (p lt 0,0001). Inappropriate ergonomic conditions, longer exposure time, addiction to computers, and work related visual and musculoskeletal disorders significantly reduced the work ability of computeroperating workers. The factors associated with a degree of working ability reduction were: currentemployment length, every day computer usage, inappropriate ergonomics conditions, and the presence of health disorders. An important finding of this study is that those who had the work-related health symptoms and disorders and reduced working ability were those who used computers for more than four hours per day.