A study on musculoskeletal morbidity among professionals in informationtechnology hub, Salt Lake City, Kolkata

Background: Long periods of working at a computer as most people do, can cause musculoskeletal problems, eyestrain, obesity, occupational stress and overuse injuries of the hands and wrists which can be reduced or eliminated with proper workstation design and improved posture. The daily experience is of repetitive, intensive and stressful work, which frequently results in employee "burnout”. Using the wrong chair or just sitting improperly in front of a computer for long time can lead to chronic debilities such as stiffness, headache, and backache. Muscles and tendons can become inflamed due to excess periods of sitting on computer. Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common example of an overuse injury associated with computer work caused by pressure on the main nerve that runs through the wrist. The fingers are also prone to overuse injury, particularly the finger that clicks the mouse buttons. With this backdrop a study was conducted to find out the musculoskeletal morbidity among professionals in Information Technology hub of sector V, Kolkata. Methods: This was an observational, cross-sectional, institution based study was conducted to find out morbidity among information technology professionals at Sector V, Salt Lake City, Kolkata, from May 2015 to April 2016. Results: Among 244 information technology professionals, their age ranges from 23 years to 39 years and mean age was 27.7 years. Male (186) 76.2 %, Female (58) 23.8 %, Married (65) 26.6%, Unmarried (172) 70.5% and living together (07) 2.9%, Graduate (84) 34.4%, Post graduate (160) 65.6%. Smoker were (96) 39.3% and Alcoholic (113) 46.3%. Type of job among study participants were; Management (08) 3.3%, Data processor (66) 27%, Call centre executive (37) 15.2%, Software developer (133) 54.5%. Prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms were; wrist/hands 25.8%, elbow 30.7%, shoulder 37.7%, neck 61.9%, upper back 33.2%, lower back 52.9%, hip/thigh 29.9%, knee 32%, and ankle/feet 29.1%. Musculoskeletal symptoms were increasing with age OR=2.62 (1.4- 5.1), male having more symptoms OR=7.2 (3.6-14.4), job duration more than 2 years had more morbidity OR=2.2 (1.1-4.4), smoker were associated with more symptoms OR=9.4 (3.3-27.2) and professionals, who had better ergonomic score were less morbid OR=0.86 (0.7-0.9). Conclusion: On the basis of findings of study as young generation who are doing job in IT companies lead to sedentary life, poor life style related behavior, musculoskeletal morbidity. Poor ergonomic practices lead to musculoskeletal morbidity among older age group, male sex and who were working for more than 2 years.