Does computer use pose a hazard for future long-term sickness absence?

A cohort of 2146 frequent computer users filled in a questionnaire at baseline and was followed for one year with continuously recording of the duration of computer use and furthermore followed for 300 weeks in a central register of sickness absence for more than 2 weeks.147 participants of the 2,146 (6.9%) became first time sick listed in the follow-up period. Overall, mean weekly computer use did not turn out to be a risk factor for later sickness absence. The hazard ratio for sickness absence with weekly increase of one hour in computer use was 0.99 (95% CI: 0.99 to 1.00). Low satisfaction with work place arrangements and female gender both doubled the risk of sickness absence.We have earlier found that computer use did not predict persistent pain in the neck and upper limb, and it seems that computer use neither predicts future long-term sickness absence of all causes.Computer use has for decades been associated with musculoskeletal pain problems, especially with acute pain, but less evidence exists on prolonged or chronic pain problems and consequences on sick leave. In general, computer professionals and technicians have been found to have a low risk of sickness absence [1], but this was based on a small sample of the Danish work force, and none of the studies, which have been performed among computer users, has analyzed the relation between computer use and sickness absence in detail. Recently, methodologies for assessing work activity during computer use has been evaluated, and activity-based recordings of computer use seem to be reliable and in agreement with measures obtained by observational techniques [2-4]. Two studies have used objective measures of computer activity, and found no association between computer use, mouse use or keyboard use in relation to the risk of persistent symptoms in the neck and upper limbs [5,6]. In this study we aimed at assessing if duration of computer use was associated with a later risk of prolonged sickness absence (e.g. s