INTRODUCTION:

In current era of information technology laptop computers are widely used by students[1]. Laptop computers allows flexibility to work from the varieties of locations, however it also means that more and more people are found to be hunched over their laptop working in discomfort postures[2]. At present the need to use desktop and laptop computers on daily basis for office work or to access information technology made their presence in many workplaces, banks, colleges, etc mandatory. Laptops are portable compared to computers. There is a drastic changes in the year 2000 in the use of laptops and computers. At present, many adolescents uses laptop on regular basis for surfing in the Internet, playing video games, emailing, etc. Neck and low back pain complaints are prevalent among the college students than computer using professionals[3].

Low back pain and neck pain are significant health problems not only in adults but also in youngsters. Many risks factors contribute to neck – shoulders and low back pain. Neck symptoms are associated with low or high screen position. Shoulders elevation are associated with computer mouse users. There is a need for increase in awareness of effects of prolonged usage of laptops and how to minimise the health problems among the students.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

It is questionnaire based survey of 100 IT professionals in which effect of prolonged usage of laptop causes neck, shoulders and low back pain has been assessed. The questionnaire is filled by paper and pen method. Then the statistical analysis was done using SPSS software. (a)How many hours spent in laptop usage for work/recreational purpose per day(b)Frequencies of taking break from laptop per day?(c) presence of pain in hands, wrist, arms, shoulders, neck during laptop usage?

(d) Presence of pain in hands, wrists, arms, shoulders, neck after laptop usage?(e)Proportion of time spent on laptop vs desktop?(f) Visit to any health care provides for pain?(g) How many hours respondents spent daily on watching TV, videos, games, etc? (h)Are you an addicted laptop user? (I)Do you have the habit of getting obsessed with your laptop to the extend that you can't leave your work? (j)How did you spent your free time before using laptop? (K) How do you rate your stress level out of 10 with laptop? (l) How do you rate your stress level without laptop. The above mentioned questions has been asked to the participants through the questionnaire. The answers are collected based on their daily routine under their normal condition.

Statistical analysis:

The hypothesis of the study was effects of prolonged usage of laptop causing neck-shoulder and low back pain. The following statistical procedures were performed. All analysis performed with SPSS. The occupancy of pain in neck-shoulder and low back pain was assessed using descriptive analysis.

RESULTS:

Table 1: How many hours spent in laptop usage for work/recreational purpose per day.

MINIMUM	MAXIMUM	MEAN	STD.DEVIATION
1	19	7.49	3.754

Table 2: Frequency of taking break from laptop per day.

Valid	Frequency	Percent
1	81	81
2	12	12
3	3	3
4	3	3
5	1	1

Table 3: Presence of pain in hand, wrist, shoulders, arm and neck pain during laptop usage

Valid	Frequency	Percent
No	19	19
Yes	81	81

Table 4: Proportion of time spent on laptop vs desktop

Desktop	26	26
Laptop	74	74

Table 5: How do you rate your stress level out of 10 with laptop

Valid	Frequency	Percentage
0	1	1
1	1	1
2	2	2
3	6	6
4	3	3
5	13	13
6	14	14
7	26	26
8	15	15
9	14	14
10	5	5

Table 6:

Valid	Percentage
Neck pain	30
Back pain	10
Arm pain	15
Wrist pain	25
Shoulder pain	20

Table 1: minimum number of hours on an average spent on laptop is 1 hour and maximum is 19 hours. The standard deviation is found to be 3.745 with the mean being 7.39

Table 2: 81% feel that they need break after every one hour. 12% feels they need break after every 2 hours. 3% feels that they need break after every 4 hours. 1% feels that they need break only after every 5 hours. Hence is it inferred that break is essential for every one hour.

Table 3: 19% of people feel that they do not suffer from any pain on prolonged usage of laptop. But 81% feel they suffer from pain on prolonged usage of laptop. Hence it can be inferred that laptop usage can cause severe pain.

Table 4: 74% uses laptop more compared to desktop which is 26%

Table 5: majority of the people feel that using laptops causes stress.

Table 6: 30% of the people experience pain in neck, 10% of the people experience pain on back pain,15% of the people experience pain in arm,25% of the people experience pain on wrist,20% of the people experience pain on the shoulders.

DISCUSSION:

Low back pain and neck pain are quite common among the people. Laptops were created with mobility in mind[4]. Current practice of students expose themselves to prolonged poor posture which leads to various musculoskeletal problems [5].prolonged usage of laptop causes various health disorders like carpal tunnel syndrome, back, neck and shoulder problems, computer vision syndrome and stress. Prolonged computer use for more than 4 hours creates several problems for its users. Growing use of laptops others increase the rate of pains, stress, and injuries among computer users. laptops were designs to allow computer access for limited periods of time when a person couldn't reach the desktop. Carrying laptops around can also causes excessive strain n muscles and joints.

CONCLUSION:

The world is getting cyber-centric but with technological advancement the medical experts are learning the whole new genre of occupational health issues and here, it is computer related health problems. While most of the IT projects are outsourced, India is emerging as favorite offshore IT solution hub for the first world countries.

Indian IT professionals are slowly but steadily getting into modern occupational disorders. These problems if ignored can prove debilitating and can cause crippling injuries forcing one to change one’s profession.urgent attention to prevent unwanted consequences that otherwise could become pandemic.

REFERENCE:

1. Venkatesan Rajagopal, Rosmah Mohd Rosh, Prevalence of computer related musculoskeletal pain among the college students-a cross sectional study2012,American Medical Journal.,

2. Ekta Chavda, Siddharth Kumar Parmar, Manish Parmar, Current practice of laptop computer and related health problems: a survey based on ergonomics, International Journal of Medical Science and Public Health,2013,1024-1026

3. Rajia M Kamal, Marwa M, Mahfouz, Sahar Madel, Nalarasbad el Habashi, Comparative study between the effects of desktop and laptop computers over neck and back muscles. For protracted users. A prospective study on 30 volunteers, Jan 2012,vol 15 no 1

4. Office of Research Services, Division of Radiation Safety.typucal source of radiation Exposure,. United States National Institutes of Health. Retrieved 2012-05

5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (Apr 2002). "Annual smoking-attributable mortality, years of potential life lost, and economic costs--United States, 1995-1999". MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 51 (14): 300–3. PMID 12002168.

Received on 14.05.2015 Modified on 16.10.2015

Research J. Pharm. and Tech. 2018; 11(3): 1217-1219.

DOI: 10.5958/0974-360X.2018.00225.1