Sharp spike in computer-related injuries predicted for health workers, studies find

3 December 2012 as American health care goes high-tech, spurred by $ 20 billion in the federal stimulus incentives, the general application of electronic medical records and related digital technologies is predicted to errors and lower cost--but it is also likely to strengthen significantly musculoskeletal injuries among doctors and nurses, concludes a professor Cornell University ergonomics in two new documents.

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The repetitive strain injuries, he said, will stem from bad Office layouts and improper use of computer devices.

"Many hospitals are investing heavily in new technology with almost no attention to the principles of ergonomics design for computer workstations," said Alan Hedge, professor of human factors and ergonomics in Cornell's College of Human Ecology Department of design and environmental analysis. "We saw a similar pattern in the 1980s when commercial automated workplaces, and there was an explosion of musculoskeletal injuries for more than a decade later begin."

For a newspaper published in the Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 56th annual meeting, 22-26 October held in Boston, hedge funds and James asked 179 doctors about the frequency and severity of their muscle and discomfort, computer use in their clinic, knowledge of ergonomics and typing skills. The most commonly reported repetitive strain injuries were neck, shoulder and upper and lower back pain--with a majority of female doctors and more than 40 percent of the male doctors such ailments reporting on at least weekly. About 40 percent of women and 30 percent of men reported right wrist injury with a comparable frequency. (Study: https://cornell.box.com/Hedge).

"These rates are alarming. When more than 40 percent of the workers complain about regular problems, that is a sign that something needs to be done to do, "said Hedge. "In a lot of hospitals and medical offices, safety at the workplace is aimed at preventing slips, trips and falls on patients and treatment, but the impact of computer use on the human body be neglected."

The differences between men and women, the authors write, seem to be partly because women reported spending about an hour per day on the computer longer than men.

In a second study of 180 physicians and nurse practitioners and physician assistants of 63 in the same health care, published in a new volume "Advances in human aspects of healthcare" (CRC Press), more than 90 percent of respondents reported using a desktop computer at work. On average, she spent more than five hours per day use of computers.

Fifty-six of doctors and 71% of the practitioners of nurse and physician assistants said their computer use at work had increased in the past year; 22% of the doctors and 19 percent of practitioners of nurse and physician assistants reported less time in face-to-face interaction with patients. Only about 5 percent of the participants reported an "expert knowledge" of ergonomics, and more than two-thirds said that they had no input in the planning or design of their computer or clinical workstation.

"We cannot assume that just because people are doctors or working in the health care that they know about ergonomics," Hedge said. "With so many negative consequences for doctors and patients, it is crucial that the implementation of new technology is considered from a perspective of design and ergonomics."

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