Track: High School STEM Competition

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to understand factors that affect discomfort among elementary students studying at home and construct an ideal computer workstation using the anthropometric measurements gathered from the target respondents. A computer workstation is composed of a chair and a table and is used as a computer terminal of students when attending classes at the comfort of their home. Having a workstation at home is an essential for workers and students for work or for academic purposes. However, users of computer workstation are commonly affaceted by Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD). In this study, the body discomfort of the subjects is measured through an instrument named Corlett’s & Bishop body map questionnaire. The study was conducted requiring information on the profile of the respondents regarding the use of their workstation at home as well as their anthropometric measurements. The statistical analysis used in the study is ANOVA, correlation analysis and regression analysis. These were used to determine the different types of MSD experienced by respondents on the use of different types of tables and chair and other factors related to their online class at home. Based on the result of the analysis, it was proved that poor sitting posture can significantly affect the discomfort of respondents on their body parts such lower arm, mid back, buttocks, lower back, neck and upper arm. It was also revealed that workstation design factors significantly affect the discomfort of respondents particularly the table height, table width and seat height. Given these conditions, the researchers proposed an ideal workstation design for elementary students using the anthropometric measurements gathered from the respondents.