A Mathematical Model for the Reduction of Neck Tension

Abstract

Tension in the muscles of the neck has been found to be a major contributing factor to pain and discomfort among office workers. It was the purpose of this study to produce a mathematical model for the prediction of neck muscle tension based on source document placement at a word processing workstation. 20 subjects were electromyographically sampled for levels of neck muscle tension during both reading and typing tasks in six different source document positions. Measures of head position were also taken in each document position under each condition. From this data a series of regression equations was developed which predict neck muscle tension based on both document position and head position.