PROCID: Prevention of muscle disorders in operation of computer input devices

• Research unit: EU RFP
• Project number: 97.0047-1

Key words (English)

Muscular pain; computer work; ergonomics; neurophysiology; motor-unit recruitment

Alternative project number (English)

EU project number: BMH4CT983903

Research programs (English)

EU-programme: 4. Frame Research Programme - 4.2 Agriculture and agroindustry

Short description (English)

See abstract

Further information (English)

Full name of research-institution/enterprise:
ETH Zürich
Institut für Hygiene und Arbeitsphysiologie

Partners and International Organizations (English)

Coordinator: Lindholmen Utveckling AB (S)

Abstract (English)

This Concerted Action was set up to co-ordinate research efforts to advance the scientific base needed to prevent muscular pain related to the use of computer input devices, and to formulate recommendations for the technical and organisational design of work involving computers. The scientific hypothesis of the project was that in computer work, low threshold motor-units in muscles of the neck-shoulder-arm- hand area may be active over long periods of time, not allowing physiological restitution and recovery.
Indeed, using advanced electrophysiological techniques, continous firing of some motor units was demonstrated. Such activation was shown to be provoked by biomechanical loading, psychological or mental stress, or a combination thereof.
The work was divided into 13 Work Packages. The Swiss partners contributed i) to develope a decomposition algorithm, which allows to decompose the EMG into constituent motor-unit firing trains of long-term registrations (Institute for Signal and Information Processing, ETHZ), ii) experiments on motor unit behavior in repetitive and one-sided tasks (Institute of Hygiene and Applied Physiology, ETHZ) and iii) measurements in patients with work-related neck pain (Department of Rheumatology and Institute of Physical Medicine, University Hospital Zurich).

References in databases (English)

Swiss Database: Euro-DB of the
State Secretariat for Education and Research
Hallwylstrasse 4
CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland
Tel. [phone]
Swiss Project-Number: 97.0047-1