Upper extremity pain and computer use among engineering graduate students

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Abstract
Background: The objective of this study was to investigate risk factors associated with persistent or recurrent upper extremity and neck pain among engineering graduate students.Methods: A random sample of 206 Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) graduate students at a large public university completed an online questionnaire.Results: Approximately 60% of respondents reported upper extremity or neck pain attributed to computer use and reported a mean pain severity score of 4.5 (±2.2; scale 0–10). In a final logistic regression model, female gender, years of computer use, and hours of computer use per week were significantly associated with pain.Conclusions: The high prevalence of upper extremity pain reported by graduate students suggests a public health need to identify interventions that will reduce symptom severity and prevent impairment. Am. J. Ind. Med. 46:297–303, 2004.