Work-site health promotion of frequent computer users: Comparing selected interventions

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Frequent computer use is associated with an increase in musculoskeletal complaints. The present study aims at comparing the relative efficacy of three novel interventions for the preventions of musculoskeletal complaints in frequent computer users. PARTICIPANTS: 93 employees (56 woman, 37 men, mean age 40.1 ± 8.8 years) with frequent computer use. METHODS: Participants were assigned on the basis of preference to one of the following interventions of 8 week duration: Nordic Walking (NW), biofeedback assisted relaxation and stretching (BFB), balance exercises on a wobble board (BAL) or a waiting list control group. Outcome measures were musculoskeletal complaints, emotional well-being, fatigue, job dissatisfaction as well as neuromuscular activity in the neck/shoulder region at rest and during computer work assessed before and after the intervention and at 3 months follow-up. RESULTS: The average number of training-units per week was 2.2 ± 0.8, 5.5 ± 3.5 and 4.1 ± 2.9 for NW, BFB and BAL, respectively. NW led to short and medium term improvement of musculoskeletal complaints, BFB to a short term improvement of musculoskeletal complaints. Effects on the well-being related variables or on neuromuscular activity were not found. BAL had no effect on the studied variables. CONCLUSION: NW and to a limited extent BFB are interventions potentially useful for reducing musculoskeletal complaints in frequent computer users.

"Give me a break!" A systematic review and meta-analysis on the efficacy of micro-breaks for increasing well-being and performance

“…To ensure that all effect sizes are computed on independent groups, in cases where studies assessed the effect of different micro-break interventions against the same control group, we combined those intervention groups into one by using standardized or pooled data [17,49,59,75,[77][78][79][80]. For the study conducted by Rees et al [81] several steps were taken, namely: (1) for each of the five post-interruption blocks for each outcome variable tested (i.e., correct responses, reaction times, response bias, sensitivity), the average was calculated; (2) from every five experimental groups (i.e., free break, music, music with video, choosing between listening to music or watching a music video, no activity break), because they were tested against the same control group, we created a single intervention group by calculating their weighted mean and pooled standard deviation; and (3) because three outcome measures fell into our accuracy operationalization of performance, we aggregated them into a single accuracy indicator.…”

“…Because only two studies collected and analyzed follow-up data [ 75 , 76 ], we decided to include only the post-manipulation data in our analysis.…”

Systematic review: complementary therapies and employee well-being

“…and the others a pre-post intervention[25,26]. Relaxation is an often-utilised secondary employee intervention designed to improve how individuals cope with workplace stressors[12].…”