Job and health implications of VDT use: initial results of the Wisconsin-NIOSH study

Magnitudes and correlates of stress were investigated among 248 office workplace VDT users and 85 nonuser counterparts using field survey and objective physical measurement techniques. Other than a tenuous indication of increased eyestrain and reduced psychological disturbances among users, the two groups were largely undifferentiated on job-attitudinal, affective, and somatic manifestations of stress. However, aspects of working conditions were judged less favorably by VDT users. Stress mechanisms were much the same for both groups, involving psychosocial as well as physical environmental job attributes. For VDT users, the chair and workstation configuration were particularly important predictors of musculo-skeletal disturbances, as were corrective eyewear use and ambient lighting for visuo-ocular disturbances.

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