A cross sectional survey to estimate the risk of developing upper quadrant disorders using RULA in young adults using mobile phones

Dr.Shivani Chowdhury Salian; Ms Nidhi Chhabra

Volume : VI, Issue : II, February - 2017

A cross sectional survey to estimate the risk of developing upper quadrant disorders using RULA in young adults using mobile phones

Dr. Shivani Chowdhury Salian, Ms Nidhi Chhabra

Abstract :

Background:- Use of handheld devices rapidly increasing worldwide. Dependency on a hand held device maybe predisposing the current generation of electronics addicts to early development of osteoarthritis and other potentially chronic joint conditions such as BlackBerry Thumb. Methodology – A prospective study including 500 subjects between the age group of 18 to 25 years using mobile phones was carried out with the objective to compute the risk of injury in the upper quadrant using RULA score .A validated Questionnaire targeting the demographics and the details of usage of mobile phone was designed. All the subjects were then interviewed through this Questionnaire and Postural assessment was done using RULA scale to assess the risk factors in the upper quadrant. Pictures were taken during use of mobile phone. Results - Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 20. 78% of the young adults used Touch screen, 17% used QWERTY and 5 % used non- Qwerty mobile phones. Chi square was used to test the null hypothesis, to compare the observed data with expected data. Conclusion - From the present study it is evident that the young population of students is definitely susceptible to injuries involving the upper quadrant due to usage of mobile phones demonstrating a RULA score of 4 and 5 i.e. Action Level 2 and 3 respectively. Also there is strong association of RULA scores with occurrence of musculoskeletal pain in the upper quadrant. Students demonstrating a higher RULA score also depicted higher levels of presence of pain and affection in the upper quadrant.