Effects of physical activity intervention on reducing neck and upper extremity pain intensity for female office computer workers

Effects of physical activity intervention on reducing neck and upper extremity pain intensity for female office computer workers

The computer usage among office workers had increased tremendously in past recent years and the surge in computer usage has created a surge in work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) on arm, neck, and shoulder. For prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms in relation to gender and age, females had higher risk and prevalence of upper limb complaints and the prevalence of WRMSDs generally increases with age. Systematic review studies had reported effectiveness of various physical activity (PA) interventions on improvements of upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders (UEMSDs) or neck pain for office workers. However, the degree of adherence of PA interventions with WHO guidelines (e.g. 150–300 min of moderate-intensity activity per week) is scare among literature. Accordingly, this study assessed the effects of PA intervention (adhere to WHO PA guidelines) on reducing neck and upper extremity pain intensity for female office computer workers of different age groups. Wearable sensing devices and subjective assessment tools were also used to estimate various physiological and psychological responses during PA intervention. Fifteen females in three different groups with computer usage≥4 h/day were recruited. Comparing the pain intensity data collected before and after the 12 weeks PA intervention administered in this study, no statistically significant differences were found though the reductions of pain intensity were observed for each age group. This result was consistent with previous findings assessed with subjects free of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in the upper extremities or neck regions. Similar PA effect on heart rate is also observed in this study where the heart rate decreased after 12 weeks PA intervention indicating improvements of cardiovascular function. In addition, PA intervention might help the middle-aged and older females with lesser magnitudes of muscular demands in the posterior deltoid muscle. To further explore the PA intervention effect on reducing musculoskeletal pain, symptomatic subjects should also be recruited and comparable PA intervention (e.g. type and duration of PA) should be implemented to verify the effect.