Fatigue development in the finger flexor muscle differs between keyboard and mouse use

Details

• Personal Author:
  Johnson PW ; Kim JH
• Description:
  Purpose: The aim of the present study was to determine whether there were any physiological changes in the muscle as a result of intensive computer use. Methods: Using a repeated measures experimental design, eighteen subjects participated in four different 8-h conditions: a control (no exposure) condition and three exposure conditions comprised of 6 h of computer use (keyboard, mouse, and combined keyboard and mouse use) followed by 2 h of recovery. In each condition, using 2 Hz neuromuscular electrical stimulation, eight temporal measurements were collected to evaluate the fatigue state (twitch force, contraction time, and ½ relaxation time) of the right middle finger Flexor Digitorum Superficialis (FDS) muscle before, during, and after computer use. Results: The results indicated that 6 h of keyboard, mouse, and combined mouse and keyboard use all caused temporal fatigue-related changes in physiological state of the FDS muscle. Keyboard use resulted in muscle potentiation, which was characterized by approximately 30% increase in twitch force (p < 0.0001) and 3% decrease (p = 0.04) in twitch durations. Mouse use resulted in a combined state of potentiation and fatigue, which was characterized by an increase in twitch forces (p = 0.002) but a prolonging (11 %) rather than a shortening of twitch durations (p < 0.0001). Conclusions: When comparing mouse and keyboard use, the more substantial change in the physiological state of the muscle with mouse use (potentiation and fatigue compared to just potentiation with keyboard use) provides some physiological evidence which may explain why mouse use has a greater association with computer-related injuries. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Biomechanical Phenomena Computers Electrophysiology Environmental Monitoring Ergonomics Fatigue Men Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Safety Women

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• Keywords:
  Analytical-processes Author Keywords: Electrical Stimulation Biomechanics Body-mechanics Computer-equipment Computer Use Electrophysiological-measurements Exposure-assessment Exposure-levels Force Humans Keyboard-operators Measurement-equipment Muscle-contraction Muscle-function Muscle-physiology Muscle Fatigue Muscles Musculoskeletal-system Musculoskeletal-system-disorders Musculoskeletal Disorders Physiological-effects Physiological-fatigue Physiopathology

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• ISSN:
  1439-6319
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Illinois ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 5 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  114
• Issue:
  12
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20046392
• Citation:
  Eur J Appl Physiol 2014 Dec; 114(12):2469-2482
• Contact Point Address:
  J. H. Kim, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA
• Email:
  jaykim@niu.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• Performing Organization:
  University of Washington
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20080901
• Source Full Name:
  European Journal of Applied Physiology
• End Date:
  20110831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:766a620b07ef040ca460557fb2612cbcc38a0b8bafeb9b89f9058d4ea27f225c52cc64b4a70f9fb460b88dd606a55174e9e3b6c8d617f2cf29ea401b56cb5374
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/201463/cdc_201463_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 951.74 KB ]