Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

5-1998

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Human Ecology

Major Professor

Robert H. Kirk

Committee Members

John Hungerford, Jack Ellison, Bill Wallace, Jack Pursley

Abstract

The purpose of this Ex Post Facto research was to assess the association between self-reported pain on perceived work performance with computer work station configuration and computer use. The study was conducted at Lockheed Martin Energy Systems (LMES), Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The study determined if there were relationships between employees with reported pain and employees with no reported pain and the adequacy of the computer work station configuration, time using the computer, frequency of rest breaks and attitudes towards computer work. The study population consisted of employees (N=879) at LMES who used computers in their jobs. This study population volunteered to fill out the PC-SAFE computer work station questionnaires. The data were collected over two years (1994-1996). The data for this study were taken from the Personal Computer Self- Adjusting Functional Ergonomics (PC-SAFE) program. PC-SAFE program was developed and copyrighted by LMES. It is a computer program that automatically calculates and prints out proper computer work station adjustment parameters based on gender and height. The computer work station questionnaire was used to collect additional employees' data. The data obtained from the PC-SAFE computer work station questionnaire, were used to determine if the research hypotheses would reveal associations or relationships between the independent variables (configuration, time of use, frequency of rest breaks, and attitudes towards job satisfaction) and dependent variables (pain and work performance). All volunteer participants were administered the same version of the PC- SAFE computer work station questionnaire and the results were analyzed by using descriptive statistics. The following major conclusions were reached as a result of the research. Conclusions for each of the six research hypothesis were:

  1. In this study there was no association between the number of computer work station configuration components and the incidence of pain or absence of pain.
  2. Increased daily use of the computer was associated with increased reports of pain.
  3. Increased number of years of computer use was not associated with the incidence of pain.
  4. Continuous or prolonged work with few rest breaks was associated with pain.
  5. Pain can affect attitudes towards work. More employees with pain reported not enjoying their work than employees with no pain.
  6. In this study, the majority of males and females were no different in their perception of no adverse effects of pain on work performance.

Recommendations for this study were:

  1. The study should be replicated using a random sample instead of volunteers to allow all employees that use computers an opportunity to participate.
  2. A separate study should be conducted to determine why reported pain was associated with daily use of computers but not cumulative years of use. The survey instrument should include more specific time measurements for amount and consistency of computer use during cumulative years of use.
  3. Supervisory training should include information concerning adverse impact of pain resulting from prolonged, uninterrupted work or too few rest breaks. Also, the training should include recognition of ergonomic risk factors in job tasks, recognition of signs and symptoms of CTDs and enforcement of regularly scheduled rest breaks and other applicable preventive measures.
  4. The PC-SAFE computer work station questionnaire should be revised to incorporate the shoulder as one of the anatomical locations to query about for incidence of pain. Also, it should include survey questions about pre-existing medical conditions and hobbies to further narrow the focus of causation of pain. For a better description of pain, specifically pain severity, a Body Part Discomfort scale (BDP) should be included in the questionnaire.

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