Musculoskeletal Symptoms among Computer Officers: A Cross-sectional Evaluation of Prevalence and Risk Factors in a Developing Country along with Validation of Maastricht Upper Extremity Questionnaire

Background: Due to an increase in the use of a computer at work musculoskeletal symptoms are becoming very common and are well known for sickness absenteeism. Musculoskeletal symptoms usually occur in the upper parts of the body because of their continuous involvement in completing any computer-related task. The prevalence of musculoskeletal complaints and validation of a modified Maastricht Upper Extremity Questionnaire (MUEQ) questionnaire were not previously done in Asian countries like Pakistan before.

Aims: To find out the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms and to ascertain the factors affecting work-related musculoskeletal symptoms among computer workers along with the MUEQ questionnaire validation.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a validated questionnaire (MUEQ) along with some changes, from July 2017 to February 2018 in Lahore. 326 computer workers between 18 to 49 years of age and having at least one year of work experience were evaluated for computer-associated musculoskeletal problems.

Results: The lifetime prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms was 62.6% while prevalence within the last week was 30.7% in the study population. MUEQ total scoring (p<0.001), years of the job (p=0.038), working days (p<0.001), and working hours per day (p=0.038) were related to the frequency of musculoskeletal complaints.

Conclusion: The musculoskeletal complaints were more related to the workstation control, body posture, job demand, and the number of days and hours spend using computer. Adequate steps for the prevention of these symptoms should be taken to increase the economic productivity of employees.