The Effect of Stage- Matched Educational Intervention on Reduction in Musculoskeletal Disorders among Computer Users

Computer users are susceptible to the development of musculoskeletal symptoms, with prevalence as high as 50% and the association between musculoskeletal disorders and sitting posture in the occupational setting has been confirmed. This study was designed to develop and evaluate a stage-matched intervention (SMI) in order to prevent and decrease musculoskeletal disorders among Iranian computer users, in Qazvin, Iran. This Quasi experimental study was conducted on 150 computer users who spent at least 20 hours per week. They were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The stage matched intervention was designed based on main constructs derived from the theory of planned behavior match to the individual’s stages of readiness for MSDs preventive behavior. A control group pre-and post-test design was used for evaluating the impact of the SMI. Educational intervention program lasted eight weeks. The intervention group, compared to the control group, showed significant improvements in stages of change for preventive behavior from 2.63±0.71 to 3.49±1.05 (p<0.001), attitude from 17.92±6.54 to 21.61±4.73 (p<0.05), perceived behavior control from 9.12±2.92 to 15.58±3.23 (p<0.001) and ergo-knowledge 8.09±2.61 to 14.07±1.89 (p<0.001). The overall incidence of musculoskeletal problems in the intervention group showed a greater trend towards reduction, falling significantly from 40.16% to 35.33% compared with the control group, which fell from 40.11% to 40%. The study showed education is effective in reducing musculoskeletal problems. Therefore, appropriate training should be given to people who work with computers continually.