title: [Upper extremities, neck and back symptoms in office employees working at computer stations].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To obtain current data on the occurrence ofwork-related symptoms of office computer users in Poland we implemented a questionnaire survey. Its goal was to assess the prevalence and intensity of symptoms of upper extremities, neck and back in office workers who use computers on a regular basis, and to find out if the occurrence of symptoms depends on the duration of computer use and other work-related factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Office workers in two towns (Warszawa and Katowice), employed in large social services companies, were invited to fill in the Polish version of Nordic Questionnaire. The questions included work history and history of last-week symptoms of pain of hand/wrist, elbow, arm, neck and upper and lower back (occurrence and intensity measured by visual scale). Altogether 477 men and women returned the completed questionnaires. Between-group symptom differences (chi-square test) were verified by multivariate analysis (GLM).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of symptoms in individual body parts was as follows: neck, 55.6%; arm, 26.9%; elbow, 13.3%; wrist/hand, 29.9%; upper back, 49.6%; and lower back, 50.1%. Multivariate analysis confirmed the effect of gender, age and years of computer use on the occurrence of symptoms. Among other determinants, forearm support explained pain of wrist/hand, wrist support of elbow pain, and chair adjustment of arm pain. Association was also found between low back pain and chair adjustment and keyboard position.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings revealed frequent occurrence of symptoms of pain in upper extremities and neck in office workers who use computers on a regular basis. Seating position could also contribute to the frequent occurrence of back pain in the examined population.
authors.affiliation: Slaski Uniwersytet Medyczny, Katowice, Katedra Epidemiologii. jzejda@sum.edu.pl
authors.forename: Jan E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Zejda
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bugajska
authors.forename: Małgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kowalska
authors.forename: Lukasz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Krzych
authors.forename: Marzena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mieszkowska
authors.forename: Grzegorz
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Brozek
authors.forename: Bogumiła
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Braczkowska
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001132:Arm / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001416:Back Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D015897:Comorbidity; D016288:Computer Terminals / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D019547:Neck Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011044:Poland / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult