Diabetes Research Unit, Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.
BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2011 Apr 4;12:68. doi: 10.1186/1471-2474-12-68.
Complaints of arm, neck and/or shoulders (CANS) affects millions of computer office workers. However its prevalence and associated risk factors in developing countries are yet to be investigated, due to non availability of validated assessment tools for these countries. We evaluated the 1-year prevalence of CANS among computer office workers in Sri Lanka and tested the psychometric properties of a translated risk factor questionnaire.
Computer office workers at a telecommunication company in Sri Lankan received the Sinhalese version of the validated Maastricht Upper Extremity Questionnaire (MUEQ). The 94 items in the questionnaire covers demographic characteristics, CANS and evaluates potential risk factors for CANS in six domains. Forward and backward translation of the MUEQ was done by two independent bi-lingual translators. One-year prevalence of CANS and psychometric properties of the Sinhalese questionnaire were investigated.
Response rate was 97.7% (n = 440). Males were 42.7%. Mean age was 38.2 ± 9.5 years. One-year prevalence of CANS was 63.6% (mild-53.7% and severe-10%). The highest incidences were for neck (36.1%) and shoulder (34.3%) complaints. Two factors for each domain in the scale were identified by exploratory factor analysis (i.e. work-area, computer-position, incorrect body posture, bad-habits, skills and abilities, decision-making, time-management, work-overload, work-breaks, variation in work, work-environment and social-support). Calculation of internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.43-0.82) and cross-validation provided evidence of reliability and lack of redundancy of items.
One year prevalence of CANS in the study population corresponds strongly with prevalence in developed countries. Translated version of the MUEQ has satisfactory psychometric properties for it to be used to assess work-related risk factors for development of CANS among Sri Lankan computer office workers.
手臂、颈部和/或肩部疼痛（CANS）困扰着数以百万计的电脑办公人员。然而，由于缺乏针对这些国家的验证评估工具，其在发展中国家的流行程度和相关危险因素尚未得到调查。我们评估了斯里兰卡电脑办公人员中 CANS 的 1 年患病率，并测试了经过翻译的危险因素问卷的心理测量特性。
斯里兰卡一家电信公司的电脑办公人员收到了经验证的马斯特里赫特上肢问卷（MUEQ）的僧伽罗语版本。问卷中的 94 个项目涵盖了人口统计学特征、CANS，并在六个领域评估了 CANS 的潜在危险因素。MUEQ 由两名独立的双语翻译进行了正向和反向翻译。调查了 CANS 的 1 年患病率和僧伽罗语问卷的心理测量特性。
应答率为 97.7%（n=440）。男性占 42.7%。平均年龄为 38.2±9.5 岁。CANS 的 1 年患病率为 63.6%（轻度为 53.7%，重度为 10%）。发病率最高的是颈部（36.1%）和肩部（34.3%）疼痛。通过探索性因子分析确定了量表中每个领域的两个因素（即工作区域、计算机位置、不正确的身体姿势、不良习惯、技能和能力、决策、时间管理、工作负荷、工作休息、工作变化、工作环境和社会支持）。内部一致性的计算（Cronbach's alpha 0.43-0.82）和交叉验证提供了证据，表明项目具有可靠性且没有冗余。
研究人群中 CANS 的 1 年患病率与发达国家的患病率非常吻合。MUEQ 的翻译版本具有令人满意的心理测量特性，可用于评估斯里兰卡电脑办公人员中与工作相关的 CANS 发展危险因素。
