title: Musculoskeletal symptoms and computer use among Finnish adolescents--pain intensity and inconvenience to everyday life: a cross-sectional study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Musculoskeletal symptoms among adolescents are related to the time spent using a computer, but little is known about the seriousness of the symptoms or how much they affect everyday life. The purpose of the present study was to examine the intensity of musculoskeletal pain and level of inconvenience to everyday life, in relation to time spent using a computer.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a survey, 436 school children (12 to 13 and 15 to 16 years of age), answered a questionnaire on musculoskeletal and computer-associated musculoskeletal symptoms in neck-shoulder, low back, head, eyes, hands, and fingers or wrists. Pain intensity (computer-associated symptoms) and inconvenience to everyday life (musculoskeletal symptoms) were measured using a visual analogue scale. Based on the frequency and intensity, three categories were formed to classify pain at each anatomic site: none, mild, and moderate/severe. The association with time spent using the computer was analyzed by multinomial logistic regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Moderate/severe pain intensity was most often reported in the neck-shoulders (21%); head (20%); and eyes (14%); and moderate/severe inconvenience to everyday life was most often reported due to head (29%), neck-shoulders (21%), and low back (16%) pain. Compared with those using the computer less than 3.6 hours/week, computer use of ≥ 14 hours/week, was associated with moderate/severe increase in computer-associated musculoskeletal pain at all anatomic sites (odds ratio [OR] = 2.9-4.4), and moderate/severe inconvenience to everyday life due to low back (OR = 2.5) and head (OR = 2.0) pain.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Musculoskeletal symptoms causing moderate/severe pain and inconvenience to everyday life are common among adolescent computer users. Daily computer use of 2 hours or more increases the risk for pain at most anatomic sites.
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland. paula.t.hakala@uta.fi
authors.forename: Paula T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Hakala
authors.forename: Lea A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Saarni
authors.forename: Raija-Leena
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Punamäki
authors.forename: Marjut A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Wallenius
authors.forename: Clas-Håkan
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Nygård
authors.forename: Arja H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Rimpelä
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000293:Adolescent; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D016288:Computer Terminals; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010146:Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011788:Quality of Life; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors