Ripat Jacquie, Scatliff Tom, Giesbrecht Ed, Quanbury Arthur, Friesen Margaret, Kelso Sarah
Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Manitoba, R131-771 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, R3E 0T6.
J Occup Rehabil. 2006 Dec;16(4):707-18. doi: 10.1007/s10926-006-9054-z.
There is evidence that performing job tasks involving repetition, vibration, sustained posture or forceful movement may contribute to symptoms of work related upper extremity disorders. Typing is one such activity; symptoms that develop as a result of this activity can affect performance of work, self-care and leisure occupations. Studies investigating the impact of ergonomic keyboards on symptom reduction are limited, and little research exists regarding the reduction of key activation force as an intervention.
This randomized, prospective study used a sample of 68 symptomatic workers employed by a single company. One group received a commercially available ergonomic keyboard, a second group used a modified version of the same keyboard designed to reduce activation force, vibration and key travel. We measured symptoms and clinical signs, functional status, and device satisfaction in both groups over a six-month study period.
Between-groups analyses indicated that the groups performed similarly on the outcomes of interest. Repeated-measure analysis identified a reduction of symptoms, an improvement in functional status, preference for and increased satisfaction with the intervention keyboards, and maintenance of typing speed and accuracy for both groups.
有证据表明，从事涉及重复、振动、持续姿势或强力运动的工作任务可能会导致与工作相关的上肢疾病症状。打字就是这样一种活动；由此活动产生的症状会影响工作表现、自我护理和休闲活动。研究人体工程学键盘对减轻症状影响的研究有限，而关于将降低按键激活力度作为一种干预措施的研究则很少。
这项随机前瞻性研究对一家公司的68名有症状的员工进行了抽样。一组使用市售的人体工程学键盘，另一组使用同一键盘的改良版，该改良版旨在降低激活力度、振动和按键行程。在为期六个月的研究期间，我们对两组的症状和临床体征、功能状态以及设备满意度进行了测量。
组间分析表明，两组在感兴趣的结果方面表现相似。重复测量分析发现，两组的症状均有所减轻，功能状态有所改善，对干预键盘的偏好和满意度增加，打字速度和准确性得以维持。
