Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, The State University of New York at Buffalo, 428 Bell Hall, Buffalo, NY 14260-2050, USA.
Ergonomics. 2012;55(11):1412-9. doi: 10.1080/00140139.2012.709541. Epub 2012 Aug 17.
Use of forearm support is known to reduce physical stress of computer users, but research about how to properly position the forearm support is insufficient. This study was aimed to determine whether the height of forearm support influences muscular loads during typing. Twenty four subjects performed a typing task with a pair of articulating forearm support at three different heights as well as without any support, while shoulder, neck and forearm muscle activities and posture data were recorded. Typing with the support at resting elbow height produced significantly (p < 0.05) lower shoulder and neck muscle activities than that of no support condition. Typing with the support at heights higher than the resting elbow height produced significantly greater shoulder and neck muscle activities compared to the no support condition. Results suggest that forearm support can help computer users lessen physical stress in typing, but only when the supports are positioned at resting elbow height. Practitioner Summary: Use of forearm support is known to alleviate physical stress of PC users in computer works such as typing. This experimental study addressed the importance of proper positioning of forearm support by comparing neck and upper extremity muscle activities between conditions with varying heights of forearm support in keyboard typing.
使用前臂支撑物已知可以减轻计算机用户的身体压力，但关于如何正确定位前臂支撑物的研究还不够充分。本研究旨在确定前臂支撑物的高度是否会影响打字时的肌肉负荷。24 名受试者在三种不同高度的可调节前臂支撑物和没有任何支撑物的情况下进行打字任务，同时记录肩部、颈部和前臂肌肉活动和姿势数据。在休息时肘部高度使用支撑物打字时，肩部和颈部肌肉的活动明显（p<0.05）低于无支撑物的情况。在肘部高度高于休息时的支撑物打字时，肩部和颈部肌肉的活动明显高于无支撑物的情况。结果表明，前臂支撑物可以帮助计算机用户减轻打字时的身体压力，但前提是支撑物应放置在休息时肘部的高度。
