Abstract
The study examined the relationships that psychosocial factors of work, psychological state, and personal factors had on musculoskeletal discomfort for intensive data entry work. A unique feature of this study was that the factors were measured at two locations which were implementing a new restbreak schedule. This schedule provided five minute hourly breaks in addition to two midshift breaks and a lunch break. Results indicated that psychological mood had a direct influence on musculoskeletal discomfort and that psychosocial aspects of work were more of an indirect influence on discomfort. These findings suggest tentative support for theoretical models of working conditions and health proposed by Smith and Carayon (1996) and Sauter and Swanson (1996). The results highlight the importance of psychosocial aspects of work on psychological mood state in a very narrowly defined data entry task performed uniformly by the employees. This may suggest that future intervention research needs to take into account the characteristics of the working environment and how they relate to employee health.
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