Thorburn Ella, Pope Rodney, Wang Shaoyu
School of Community Health, Charles Sturt University, Orange, NSW, Australia.
Arch Physiother. 2021 Jan 9;11(1):1. doi: 10.1186/s40945-020-00096-6.
Previous literature suggests the use of smartphones and tablet devices may result in various postural and musculoskeletal disorders, predominantly of the neck and upper extremities. However, factors that contribute to the symptoms have not been adequately explored.
This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and patterns (e.g. types, sites and temporal distributions) of musculoskeletal symptoms among adult smartphone and tablet device users. It also investigated device usage in terms of usage time, postures adopted during use, operational methods and purposes of device use in order to explain the symptom occurrences. Participants from eastern states of Australia retrospectively reported device usage and symptoms in the preceding two-week period, via an online survey. Data was analysed using Chi-square [χ2] analysis to determine the relationships between categorical variables; Mann-Whitney U tests to compare two groups (e.g. smartphone-only users versus tablet users) where dependant variables were ordinal; independent samples t-tests if dependent variables were continuous and approximated a normal distribution; and Spearman's correlation analysis to assess the relationships between pairs of continuous or ordinal variables.
Of the 207 participants, 59.9% reported musculoskeletal symptoms during or after device use; for 64.5% of these, symptoms began within the first 30 min (mostly between 15 and 30 min) of commencing usage. No statistically significant differences were observed between smartphone-only users and tablet device users in proportions reporting symptoms during device use (χ2 = .350, N = 207, p = .554). The most prevalent symptom was stiffness. The most prevalent symptom occurred in the neck (18.1% in smartphone-only users and 19.3% in tablet device users). Tablet users who were 18-24 year-old and used their device for more than 30 min in each usage session more often experienced symptoms (82.4% prevalence) than those who used a device for 30 min or less (52.2%) (χ2 = 4.723, N = 63, p = .030).
These findings suggest that user age, duration and frequency of usage, and type of device are important factors to consider in the formation of evidence-based guidelines to reduce experiences of musculoskeletal symptoms among smartphone and tablet device users. If usage was capped at < 15 min, the majority of smartphone and tablet device users would avoid symptoms.
先前的文献表明，使用智能手机和平板设备可能会导致各种姿势和肌肉骨骼疾病，主要发生在颈部和上肢。然而，导致这些症状的因素尚未得到充分探讨。
本研究旨在调查成年智能手机和平板设备用户中肌肉骨骼症状的患病率和模式（如类型、部位和时间分布）。它还从使用时间、使用时采取的姿势、操作方法和设备使用目的等方面调查了设备使用情况，以解释症状的发生。来自澳大利亚东部各州的参与者通过在线调查回顾性报告了前两周内的设备使用情况和症状。使用卡方[χ2]分析来确定分类变量之间的关系；使用曼-惠特尼U检验来比较两组（如仅使用智能手机的用户与使用平板电脑的用户），其中因变量为有序变量；如果因变量是连续的且近似正态分布，则使用独立样本t检验；使用斯皮尔曼相关性分析来评估连续或有序变量对之间的关系。
在207名参与者中，59.9%的人报告在使用设备期间或之后出现肌肉骨骼症状；其中64.5%的人在开始使用的前30分钟内（大多在15至30分钟之间）出现症状。在使用设备期间报告症状的比例方面，仅使用智能手机的用户和平板设备用户之间未观察到统计学上的显著差异（χ2 = 0.350，N = 207，p = 0.554）。最常见的症状是僵硬。最常见的症状出现在颈部（仅使用智能手机的用户中为18.1%，使用平板电脑的用户中为19.3%）。18至24岁且每次使用设备超过30分钟的平板电脑用户比使用设备30分钟或更短时间的用户更常出现症状（患病率为82.4%对52.2%）（χ2 = 4.723，N = 63，p = 0.030）。
这些发现表明，用户年龄、使用时长和频率以及设备类型是制定循证指南时需要考虑的重要因素，以减少智能手机和平板设备用户的肌肉骨骼症状体验。如果使用时间限制在<15分钟，大多数智能手机和平板设备用户将避免出现症状。
