KNOWLEDGE, PERCEPTION AND PRACTICES RELATED TO COMPUTER ERGONOMICS AMONG USERS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN

Abstract

The widespread use of the computer in recent times has made it a powerful tool in everyday life and work. Many Nigerian Universities have purchased computers for their secretarial staff in an attempt to improve their efficiency at work. However, there is dearth of information on the knowledge, perceptions and practices of computer users in the university system on computer ergonomics. This study was therefore designed to assess the level of knowledge, perceptions and practices relating to computer ergonomics among secretarial staff of the University of Ibadan.

The study was descriptive and cross sectional in design involving all the secretariat staff of the University. A total of 240 out 416 secretarial start who were available and willing to participate in the study completed a standardized questionnaire. Thirty secretaries were observed at their workstations, while in-depth interviews were conducted with 50 Heads of Department who were randomly selected by balloting from the 13 faculties in the University. Participants' knowledge of ergonomics was assessed using a 17-point scale. Data were analyzed using descriptive and Chi-Square statistics. Mean age of respondents was 40 years (±7.0). Respondents' working experience averaged was 12 years. Most respondents (65.4%) reported using the computer for between 4-6 hours daily and the majority (96.3%) used the computer primarily for word processing. Respondents' mean knowledge score for computer ergonomics was 5.5. Most respondents reported eye problem (85.4%), headache (63.8%), back (96.3%), neck (95.4%) and wrist (42.9%) pains as possible health problems associated with computer use. Seventy percent of them reportedly experienced musculoskeIetal symptoms including neck, shoulder, back and wrist pains during the 12 months preceding the study, which were attributed to computer use. Among the secretarial staff who were also data analyst, 91.7% complained of Musculoskeletal Pains (MSP). The prevalence of MSP among those who were secretaries alone and those who were typists alone was 76.8% and 68.7% respectively. Gender was significantly correlated to their experience of pain with males (84.7%) having a higher incidence of pain than females (61.9%) (p<0.05). More than three quarters (78%) of respondents had never read any article on, or received any formal training on computer ergonomics. Seventy two percent believed that the University placed low priority on the importance of computer ergonomics, while 85% believed that computer ergonomics training would be beneficial to them. Each of the following variables- Age, sex, level of education and working experience were not significantly correlated with their knowledge of computer ergonomics (p>0.05). Observations revealed poor computer ergonomics practices, while in-depth interview revealed lack of training of computer users and non-availability of policies on computer ergonomics with the University. Computer users at the University of Ibadan have poor knowledge and practice of computer ergonomics. Ergonomics training for computer users in the University of Ibadan is recommended.