PDF
ePub
Citation
Print
Abstract
There is no critical factor that can cause typical occupational disease among office workers who have a little chance to exposure to harmful agents like physical factor, chemical factor and biological factor. However they still have possible health risks that cannot be ignored, even if it is neither critical nor dangerous. Over the last two decades, the number of office workers in computer-related fields increased at geometric rates. Ergonomic problems and associated musculoskeletal diseases among office workers were mainly caused by computer use. Also health problems due to indoor air pollution, work overloads and job stress can bring about socio-psychological burden that can cause cardiovascular disease and psychological disorder. To date, almost all studies in occupational medicine were mostly focused on manufacturing workers who were more vulnerable to exposure to harmful environment and workers at special situation. So office worker's health has not been studied thoroughly. Further health studies in office workers who are vulnerable to these diseases should be needed. Also companies need to develop their proper health promotion programs for office workers.
Figures and Tables
Fig. 1
Risk factors for musculoskeletal symptoms within a computerized office work environment in relation to professional occupational groups. Adapted from Workstyle Model, for purpose of identifying only those variables and relationships addressed in this review and this does not diminish the significance of other variables within the model. Used and modified with permission from Taylor & Francis Ltd (UK) (1996) and author M. Feuerstein
References
1. Ministry of Employment and Labor. Survey for work type of employment 2007. cited 12 August 2010. Avaliable: http://kosis.kr/?surv_id=11820&curYear=2007.
2. Korea National Statistical Office. Korean standard classification of occupations 2007. cited 12 August 2010. Avaliable: http://kostat.go.kr/.
3. Mohr SN, Shalat SL. Rosenstock L, Cullen MR, Brodkin CA, Redlich CA, editors. Office and service workers. Textbook of clinical occupational and environmental medicine. 2005. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, USA: Elsevier Saunders;227–232.
4. Leroyer A, Edme JL, Vaxevanoglou X, Buisset C, Laurent P, Desobry P, Frimat P. Neck, shoulder, and hand and wrist pain among administrative employees: relation to work-time organization and psychosocial factors at work. J Occup Environ Med. 2006. 48:326–333.
5. Cha BS, Ko SB, Chang SJ, Park CS. A study on the relationship between subjective symptoms and psychosocial wellbeng status of VDT operators. Korean J Occup Environ Med. 1996. 8:403–413.
6. Yim SH, Lee YG, Cho JJ, Son JI, Song JC. Symptom prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders and related factors among bank workers by visual display terminal use. Korean J Occup Environ Med. 1997. 9:85–98.
7. Chae CH, Kim YW, Yi CH, Kim JI, Kim JY, Lee SH. Symptom prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders and related factors among some VDT workers in publishing industries. Korean J Occup Health. 2003. 42:67–75.
8. Marcus M, Gerr F. Upper extremity musculoskeletal symptoms among female office workers: associations with video display terminal use and occupational psychosocial stressors. Am J Ind Med. 1996. 29:161–170.
9. Aborg C, Billing A. Health effects of the "paperless office"-evaluations of the introduction of electronic document handling systems. Behav Inf Technol. 2003. 22:389–396.
10. Feuerstein M. Sauter S, Moon SD, editors. Workstyle: definition, empirical support, implication for prevention, evaluation, and rehabilitation of upper-extremity disorders. Beyond biomechanics: psychosocial aspects of musculoskeletal disorders in office work. 1996. London, UK: Taylor & Francis;151–178.
11. Palmer KT, Cooper C, Walker-Bone H, Syddall H, Coggon D. Use of keyboards and symptoms in the neck and arm: evidence from a national survey. Occup Med (Lond). 2001. 51:392–395.
12. Nakazawa T, Okubo Y, Suwazono Y, Kobayashi E, Komine S, Kato N, Nogawa K. Association between duration of daily VDT use and subjective symptoms. Am J Ind Med. 2002. 42:421–426.
13. IJmker S, Huysmans MA, Blatter BM, van der Beek AJ, van Mechelen W, Bongers PM. Should office workers spend fewer hours at their computer? A systematic review of the literature. Occup Environ Med. 2007. 64:211–222.
14. Melin B, Lundberg U. A biopsychosocial approach to work-stress and musculoskeletal disorders. J Psychophysiol. 1997. 11:238–247.
15. Smith MJ, Carayon P. Sauter S, Moon SD, editors. Work organization, stress, cumulative trauma disorders. Beyond biomechanics: psychosocial aspects of musculoskeletal disorders in office work. 1996. London, UK: Taylor & Francis;19–36.
16. Carayon P, Smith MJ, Hairns MC. Work organization, job stress, and work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Hum Factors. 1999. 41:644–663.
17. Johnson P, Hagberg M, Wigaeus HE, Rempel D. Measuring and characterizing force exposures during computer mouse use. Scand J Work Environ Health. 2000. 26:398–405.
18. Wahlstrom J. Physical load in computer mouse work. Working technique, sex and stress aspects. 2001. Goteborg, Sweden: National Institute for Working Life.
19. Macaulay M. The speed of mouse-click as a measure of anxiety during human-computer interaction. Behav Inf Technol. 2004. 23:427–433.
20. Yun M, Lee YG, Eoh HJ, Lim SH. Results of a survey on the awareness and severity assessment of upperlimb work-related musculoskeletal disorders among female bank tellers in Korea. Int J Ind Ergon. 2001. 27:347–357.
21. Ferreira M, de Souza Conceicao GM, Saldiva PHN. Work organisation is significantly associated with upper extremities musculoskeletal disorders among employees engaged in interactive computer-telephone tasks of an international bank subsidiary in San Paulo, Brazil. Am J Ind Med. 1997. 31:468–473.
22. Sundelin G, Hagberg M. The effects of different pause types on neck and shoulder EMG activity during VDU work. Ergonomics. 1989. 32:527–537.
23. Ylinen J, Takala EP, Nykanen M, Hakkinen A, Malkia E, Pohjolainen T, Karppi SL, Kautiainen H, Airaksinen O. Active neck muscle training in the treatment of chronic neck pain in women: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2003. 289:2509–2516.
24. Lee SC, Li WM, Chan LY. Indoor air quality at restaurants with different styles of cooking in metropolitan Hong Kong. Sci Total Environ. 2001. 279:181–193.
25. Jeong JY, Lee BK, Whang HS, Phee YG, Kim BY. Guideline development for evaluation and management of office air quality (II). 2005. Incheon, Korea: Occupational Safety & Health Research Institute.
26. WHO. Indoor air pollutants, exposure and health effects assessment. EURO reports and studies No. 78. Report on a meeting of the working group on assessment and monitoring of exposure to indoor pollution. 1983. Copenhagen, Denmark: WHO Regional Office for Europe.
27. Woods JE, Cone JE, Hodgson MJ. Problem building: building-associated illness and the sick building syndrome. Occup Med. 1989. 4:575–797.
28. Sabir M, Shashikiran U, Kochar SK. Building related illnesses and indoor air pollution. J Assoc Physicians India. 1999. 47:426–430.
29. Terr AI. Bardana EJ, Montanaro A, editors. Multiple chemical syndrome. Indoor air pollution and health. 1996. New York, USA: Marcel Dekker Inc.;267–280.
30. Appleby PH. ABC of work related disorders. Building related illnesses. BMJ. 1996. 313:674–677.
31. Backman H, Haghighat F. Indoor-air quality and ocular discomfort. J Am Optom Assoc. 1999. 70:309–316.
32. Redlich CA, Sparer J, Cullen MR. Sick-building syndrome. Lancet. 1997. 349:1013–1016.
33. Wargocki P, Wyon DP, Baik YK, Clausen G, Fanger PO. Perceived air quality, sick building syndrome (SBS) symptoms and productivity in an office with two different pollution loads. Indoor Air. 1999. 9:165–179.
34. Schneider T, Skov P, Valbjorn O. Challenges for indoor environment research in the new office. Scand J Work Environ Health. 1999. 25:574–579.
35. Stenberg B, Eriksson N, Hoog J, Sundell J, Wall S. The sick building syndrome (SBS) in office workers: A case-referent study of personal, psychosocial and building-related risk indicators. Int J Epidemiol. 1994. 23:1190–1197.
36. Thorn A. Emergence and preservation of chronically sick building. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2000. 54:552–556.
37. Cho KH, Lee DB, Cho YC. Psychosocial distress and its related factors among clerical public officers. Korean J Occup Environ Med. 2007. 19:26–37.
38. Kawakami N, Haratani T. Epidemiology of job stress and health in Japan: review of current evidence and future direction. Ind Health. 1999. 37:174–186.
39. Chang SJ, Koh SB, Choi HR, Woo JM, Cha BS, Park JK, Chen YH, Chung HK. Job stress, heart rate variability and metabolic syndrome. Korean J Occup Environ Med. 2004. 16:70–81.
40. Chang SJ, Koh SB, Cha BS, Park JK. Job characteristics and blood coagulation factors in Korean male workers. J Occup Environ Med. 2002. 44:997–1002.
41. Härmä M. Workhours in relation to work stress, recovery and health. Scand J Work Environ Health. 2006. 32:502–514.
42. Rose G, Kumlin L, Dimberg L, Bengtsson C, Orth-Gomer K, Cai X. Work-related life events, psychological well-being and cardiovascular risk factors in male Swedish automotive workers. Occup Med (Lond). 2006. 56:386–392.
43. Kaprio J, Koskenvuo M, Rita H. Mortality after bereavement: a prospective study of 95,647 person. Am J public Health. 1987. 77:283–287.
44. Rozanski A, Blumenthal JA, Kaplan J. Impact of psychological factors on the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease and implications for therapy. Circulation. 1999. 99:2192–2217.
45. Yudkin JS, Kumari M, Humphries SE, Mohamed-Ali V. Inflammation, obesity, stress and coronary heart disease: is interleukin-6 the link? Atherosclerosis. 1999. 148:209–214.
46. Davis MC, Matthews KA, McGrath CE. Hostile attitudes predict elevated vascular resistance during interpersonal stress in men and women. Psychosom Med. 2000. 62:17–25.
47. Capes SE, Hunt D, Malmberg K, Gerstein HC. Stress hyperglycemia and increased risk of death after myocardial infarction in patients with and without diabetes: a systematic overview. Lancet. 2000. 355:773–778.
48. Hemingway H, Marmot M. Evidence based cardiology: psychosocial factors in the aetiology and prognosis of coronary artery disease. Systematic review of prospective cohort studies. BMJ. 1999. 318:1460–1467.
49. Bernard B, Sauter S, Fine L, Petersen M, Hales T. Job task and psychosocial risk factors for work-related musculoskeletal disorders among newspaper employees. Scand J work Environ Health. 1994. 20:417–426.
50. Toomingas A, Theorell T, Michelsen H, Nordemar R. Stockholm MUSIC I Study Group. Associations between self-rated psychosocial work conditions and musculoskeletal symptoms and signs. Scand J Work Environ Health. 1997. 23:130–139.
51. Sauter SL, Swanson NG. Sauter S, Moon SD, editors. An ecological model of musculoskeletal disorders in office work. Beyond biomechanics: psychosocial aspects of musculoskeletal disorders in office work. 1996. London, UK: Taylor & Francis;2–18.
52. Wittchen HU, Boyer P. Screening for anxiety disorders: Sensitivity and specificity of the anxiety screening questionnaire (ASQ-15). Br J Psychiatry Suppl. 1998. (34):10–17.
53. Melchior M, Caspi A, Milne BJ, Danese A, Poulton R, Moffitt TE. Work stress precipitates depression and anxiety in young, working women and men. Psychol Med. 2007. 37:1119–1129.
54. Health and Safety Executive. Stress-related and psychological disorders. cited 12 August 2010. Available: http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/stress.
55. Choi KS, Lee HJ, Kim SJ, Lee CH. Work-related psychiatric injuries of Korean workers' compensation. J Korean Neuropsychiatr Assoc. 2006. 45:276–284.
56. Karasek R, Theorell T. Healthy work: Stress productivity and the reconstruction of working life. 1990. New York, USA: Basic Books.
57. Shigemi J, Mino Y, Ohtsu T, Tsuda T. Effects of perceived job stress on mental health. A longitudinal survey in a Japanese electronics company. Eur J Epidemiol. 2000. 16:371–376.
58. Park KC, Lee KJ, Park JB, Min KB, Lee KW. Association between occupational stress and depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms among white-collar male workers in an automotive company. Korean J Occup Environ Med. 2008. 20:215–224.
59. Chang SJ. Research on development of manuals and supporting programs according to job stress high risk group's characteristics. 2009. Incheon, Korea: KOSHA;31–33.
60. Smith C. Smith C, Knights D, Willmott H, editors. Engineers and the labour process. Whitecollar work: the non-manual labour process. 1996. London, UK: Macmillan;109–137.
XML Download