Musculoskeletal Pain and Teleworking in Times of the Covid-19 Pandemic at Mulawarman University

^1,3 Occupational Health and Safety Department, Public Health Faculty, Mulawarman University, East Kalimantan, Indonesia
² Medical Faculty of Mulawarman University, East Kalimantan, Indonesia
⁴ The Faculty of Social and Political Science of Mulawarman University, East Kalimantan, Indonesia
⁵ Faculty of Engineering of Mulawarman University, East Kalimantan, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: dinalusiana@fkm.unmul.ac.id

Abstract

The use of computers in the last two decades has increased rapidly, and escalated as a result of the increasing virtual activities during the Covid-19 pandemic where learning and working are carried out from home. This study used the Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaires (CMDQ) in the evaluation of musculoskeletal discomfort. The collected data was processed using statistical software and assessed using univariate analysis to obtain descriptive information and descriptions of musculoskeletal discomfort. Using the Mann Whitney test for bivariate analysis to see the effect of gender and working hours for a week on the CMDQ Score. Kruskal Wallis test was used to analyse the relationship of Age and BMI with the CMDQ Scores; and the Spearman Rank test to see the relationship between work stress and BMI with the CMDQ scores. Computer users, either daily or weekly, were more associated with hand and arm MSDS complaints compared to neck and shoulder MSDS. Work stress can increase the likelihood of musculoskeletal complaints.