Occupational health problems and role of ergonomics in information technology professionals in national capital region

A cross sectional study was done among 200 Information Technology (IT) professionals in the National Capital Region (NCR) to study the computer related health problems and role of ergonomic factors. The computer related morbidity was present in 93% of the study subjects. The visual problems were seen in 76% and musculoskeletal in 77.5% while 35% felt stressful symptoms. The study subjects having inadequate lighting and not using an antiglare had greater visual problem, i.e. 81.3 and 76.3%, respectively. Of the 152 subjects that had visual discomfort, 80.2% did not have the monitor at correct distance. This observation was found to be statistically significant (P<0.05). The musculoskeletal problems were also higher in the study subjects using inappropriate ergonomics. The study has brought forth a very high prevalence of computer related morbidity among IT professionals and it further concluded that all aspects of ergonomic variables appear to be acting in cohesion in relation to computer related heath.