The most common areas for discomfort at the beginning of the computer class were the low back, neck, shoulders and knees.
The most common areas for reported discomfort at the end of the computer class were the low back, neck, shoulders and thoracic spine.
The distribution of discomfort is similar to that reported by Jacobs and Baker.
The average discomfort score for those in Action Level 3 was higher than those in Action Level 2 but a slight
decrease in average discomfort score was seen from Action Level 3 to Action Level 4 (Fig.3).
This may be explained by the relatively small number of students in Action Level 4 (n=2) compared to Action Level 3 (n=12) and Action Level 2 (n=26). A similar study with a larger number of students is recommended.
A relationship was noted between increasing Action Level and increased frequency of reported discomfort in the back/neck and shoulder areas (Fig.4 & Fig. 5).
The results demonstrate that poor posture is associated with specific body part discomfort reported at the end of the computer session.