Where and how college students use their laptop computers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Amick BC III ; Chang C-H ; del Pino RJ ; Dennerlein TJ ; Menendez CC ; Robertson M
• Description:
  A pilot study classified the locations, furniture, input devices and postures associated with using laptop computers in a small cohort of college students. Data were collected from digital photographs of the students posing as using laptop computers in their usual workstation configurations. The observed configurations were assigned to descriptive categories and the Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) assessed the postural risk factors observed on the participants. We observed that 75% of the participants used the laptop computer in the traditional table and chair configuration; 25% of the participants used the laptop computer in untraditional configurations where they placed the computer on their laps while sitting on a lounge type couch or in their bed. Excessive shoulder flexion (61% of all configurations) and neck flexion (35%) were the postural risk factors observed commonly. RULA scores suggested the need for further postural investigation. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Computers Men Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Women
• Keywords:
  Computer-equipment Exposure-levels Extremities Humans Physiological-factors Physiological-function Physiology Posture Risk-factors Statistical-analysis
• ISBN:
  9781605606859
• ISSN:
  1071-1813
• Publisher:
  Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement ; Grant
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 6 ; Texas ; Virginia ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  52
• Issue:
  15
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20046318
• Citation:
  Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 52nd Annual Meeting, September 22-26, 2008, New York, New York. Santa Monica, CA: Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 2008 Sep; 52(15):1010-1014
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2008
• Performing Organization:
  Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20040915
• Source Full Name:
  Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 52nd Annual Meeting, September 22-26, 2008, New York, New York
• End Date:
  20100630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f620acec99c4639a6dc9df9136011de3cde3d6ccdbcf9fb1cc7e4d492d77df07c068f432a9bd935fd478c1f7aa97178766df4a6cf3056c1fa827275d8f1a62da
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/201415/cdc_201415_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 179.37 KB ]