Assessing Computer-related Physical Health Symptoms in White Collar Employees of Thimphu, Bhutan

Abstract

The introduction of computer use at work sector has revolutionized various sector of work. Rapid technological development has both positive and negative impacts on the employees and workplace. Employees and work is uniquely interconnected. Various factors like personal factors and work related factors can result in many health hazards like carpel tunnel syndrome, musculoskeletal discomfort (MSD) and computer vision syndrome. From the literature review it was observed that the computer-related physical health symptoms such as carpel tunnel syndrome, musculoskeletal discomfort and computer vision syndrome is very common among computer users. The purpose of this paper was to examine the frequency of computer related physical health symptoms in the different work sectors of the white collar employees in

Thimphu. A quantitative questionnaire consisting of socio-demographic information and self- reported physical pain questionnaire was delivered to 384 computer users employees of

Thimphu, Bhutan. Out of which few questionnaires were found completely filled and few questionnaires were found partially filled and thus not included in the study. For data analysis SPSS 200 version was used, chi square test was performed find the association. Participants suffering from computer-related physical pains during the last 6 months reported problem in the carpel tunnel syndrome (20%), musculoskeletal discomfort (64.3%) and computer vision syndrome (19%). The study showed a high prevalence of computer-related physical health symptoms in the private sector workers. And comparing to the three different physical pains of carpel tunnel, musculoskeletal discomfort and computer vision syndrome, musculoskeletal discomfort was higher than the other physical pains. It is recommended that proper work posture; healthy working conditions must be provided which can make the work easier and improve the productivity of the employee.