The Use of Computers in Different Age Groups and their

Self-reported Neck Symptoms

Leena Korpinen

, Rauno Pääkkönen

and Fabriziomaria Gobba

Environmental Health, Tampere University of Technology, Tampere, Finland

Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Tampere, Finland

Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy

Keywords: Computers, Age, Symptoms, Neck.

Abstract: The aim of this paper was to investigate the self-reported physical symptoms in the neck and the use of

computers in different age groups. The study was carried out as a cross-sectional study by posting the

questionnaire to 15,000 working-age Finns. The daily use of desktop computers at work is quite popular

(over 60%) in the age groups 31–40, 41–50, and 51–60. In these same age groups, a very similar percentage

of the respondents reported having physical symptoms in the neck as ‘very often’.

1 INTRODUCTION

In recent years, the use of computers and other

mobile internet or communication devices has

increased at work and at leisure. For example,

according to the Finnish Statistics Office (2008), in

2006, the percentages of computer users among

people aged 18–64 years were as follows: 100% in

upper-level white-collar workers and students; 97%,

in lower-level white-collar workers; 89% in other

entrepreneurial group, and 83% in blue–collar

workers.

In the Fourth European Working Condition

Survey Report, around 26% of employees worked

with a computer either all or almost all of the time

(Parent-Thirion et al., 2007).

Musculoskeletal diseases involving the neck or

shoulder region are quite common. In addition, in

recent years, the use of new technical equipment has

increased.

The average workers’ age has increased

(Shephard, 2000a). Before workers are 65, they

often had chronic health problems (Huuhtanen and

Piispa, 1993; Kilbom et al., 1993).

Shephard (2000b) described that aging is

associated with progressive decreases in aerobic

power, thermoregulation, reaction speed and acuity

of the special senses. In another publication,

Shephard (1997) documented and described that

age-related decreases in reaction speed and the

acuity of the special senses. Shephard reported the

special categories of employment in which a

deterioration of vision or hearing can substantially

limit employment prospects (Shephard, 1997, 1974).

Ishiharaa et al. (2001) studied the age-related

decline in visual ability. According to them, for

example, light sensitivity, susceptibility to glare,

color perception, static and dynamic acuity

peripheral vision and depth perception change with

age (Ishihara et al., 2001; Kline and Scialfa,1997).

Roy et al. (1991) described in their publication that

the best color discrimination occurred in subjects

between the ages of 20 and 50.

The Tampere University of Technology (TUT)

has studied the health effects of new technical

equipment using a questionnaire. The study was

carried out as a cross-sectional study by posting the

questionnaire to 15,000 working-age Finns. Of the

responses, 6,121 were received, which included

multiple-choice questions on the familiarity and

usage of new technical devices, prevalence of

physical and mental symptoms, accidents associated

with mobile phone use and an open-ended question

on health and new technology (Korpinen et al,

2009).

In our earlier article “self-reported use of ICT

(Information and communication technology) uptake

in 2002 and discomfort amongst Finns aged 45-66”

we reported that the use of new technical equipment

among the group of people who are outside working

life was smaller than the people’s usage in general.

496

Korpinen L., Pääkkönen R. and Gobba F..

The Use of Computers in Different Age Groups and their Self-reported Neck Symptoms.

DOI: 10.5220/0004913104960499

In Proceedings of the International Conference on Health Informatics (HEALTHINF-2014), pages 496-499

ISBN: 978-989-758-010-9

 2014 SCITEPRESS (Science and Technology Publications, Lda.)

Therefore, when new technical equipment is

developed, it is important to take into account, that

people outside working life do not use, e.g., the

Internet as much as people in general. (Korpinen and

Pääkkönen, 2010).

The aim of this paper was to investigate the self-

reported physical symptoms in the neck and the use

of computers in different age groups.

2 METHODS

2.1 Study Population

The questionnaire was sent to 15,000 Finns. The

study focused on the working-age population, so the

questionnaire was sent to people between the ages of

18–65.

The names and addresses of the participants were

obtained as a random sample from the Finnish

Population Register Centre. The study design was

approved by the Ethical Committee of Pirkanmaa

Health District, Finland (decision R02099).

2.2 Questionnaire

The questionnaire was divided into six sections. The

first section dealt with background information, such

as age, gender, marital status, education, occupation,

and home county.

In section two, the familiarity and use of given

technical devices at leisure and at work were

mapped. In the third section, the focus was on

physical loading and ergonomics.

The fourth section concerned psychological

welfare. Accidents and close-call situations at leisure

or at work were handled in the fifth section. The last

part was an open-ended question ‘other observations

concerning technology and health’.

The details of the questionnaire have been

reported earlier (Korpinen et al, 2009).

2.1 Statistical Analysis

The statistical analysis was performed using IBM

SPSS Statistics versions 20 software. Age groups

were classified as: under 20, 21–30, 31–40, 41–50,

51–60, and over 60. For the analysis, we took group

2 (21–30), group 3 (31–40), group 4 (41–50), and

group 5 (51–60), as the remaining groups were too

small.

We analyzed the answer percentages to the

questions:

a) Have you had an ache, pain or numbness in the

neck during the last 12 months? (choices: (0)

cannot say, (1) not at all, (2) sometimes, (3)

fairly often, (4) often and (5) very often) and

b) How often do you use the following equipment

or services at work? (choices: (0) cannot say, (1)

not at all, (2) less than monthly, (3) monthly, (4)

weekly, and (5) daily).

3 RESULTS

A total of 6121 responses arrived and the response

percent was 41. Figure 1 shows the answers of all

participants for the question ‘how well do you know

the desktop computer?

’.

Figure 1: Answers of all participants for question ‘how

well do you know the desktop computer?’.

Figure 2 shows answers for the question ‘how often

do you use the desktop computer for leisure?’ (using

all data) and Figure 3 shows the answers of all

participants for the question ‘how often do you use

the desktop computer at work?’.

In the age group 2, 34.7% of respondents used a

desktop computer at work on a daily basis and

37.8% at leisure.

In group 3, the numbers were 60.5% at work and

37.3% at leisure. In group 4, 66.3% at work and

30.5% at leisure and in group 5, 63.5% at work and

30.7% at leisure.

Figure 4 shows the physical symptoms in the

neck expressed in groups ‘sometimes and fairly

often’.

TheUseofComputersinDifferentAgeGroupsandtheirSelf-reportedNeckSymptoms

497

Figure 2: Answers of all participants for the question ‘how

often do you use the desktop computer for leisure?’.

Figure 3: Answers of all participants for the question ‘how

often do you use the desktop computer at work?’.

Figure 5 shows the physical symptoms in the neck

classified in groups ‘sometimes, fairly often’, often

and very often”. In age groups 3 (31–40), 4 (41–50),

and 5 (51–69), the percentages are quite similar,

when respondents reported experiencing their

symptoms ‘very often’.

Figure 4: The physical symptoms in the neck between

response groups ‘sometimes and fairly often’, and with

different age groups.

Figure 5: The physical symptoms in the neck ‘often and

very often’.

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3 DISCUSSION

3.1 Evaluation of Methods

In this study, the population was 15,000 working-

age Finns. The amount of responses was 6,121,

which was quite large. Therefore, it was possible to

make analyses on the subgroup of people, such as

based on age groups. However, the results of our

data are not highly reliable, because the nonresponse

rate was over 50%.

In the questionnaire, the new technical units

included desktop computers, portable computers,

hand-held computers, communicators, Internet,

mobile phones, electronic marketplaces/commerce,

teletext, digital television and associated services. In

some of age groups, people might not use all these

services or equipment.

This data is about 10 years old, which is a long time

in consumer technology. For example, the digi-TV

and digibox were new when we sent the

questionnaire, but nowadays the devices are well

known, so the situation has changed. However, the

desktop computers used in 2002 were quite similar

to those used nowadays. The usage of the Internet

has increased, so perhaps the amount of usage of the

Internet is nowadays higher than in 2002.

3.2 Use of Computers and Reported

Symptoms

In all data, 45% of all participants used a computer

at work on a daily basis and 31% at leisure. The

daily use of desktop computers at work is quite

popular (over 60%) in the age groups 31–40, 41–50,

and 51–60. In these same age groups, a similar

percentage of the respondents (less than a 7.5%

difference) reported physical symptoms in the neck

as ‘very often’.

4 CONCLUSIONS

The daily use of desktop computers of all

participants was about 45% at work and about 30%

at leisure in all the data. In addition, about 5%

reported physical symptoms in the neck very often

in the age groups 31–40, 41–50, and 51–60. In the

future, it is important to take into account ergonomic

issues and the ergonomic differences of mobile

devices, e.g., computers can stress a person’s neck.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The assistance of the staff (Noomi Suuronen, Jari

Latva-Teikari and Riitta Lehtelä) of Environmental

Health group, Tampere University of Technology

was gratefully acknowledged.

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