Survey of physical ergonomics issues associated with school childrens' useof laptop computers

The survey investigated the use of laptop computers by children aged 10 to 17 yr at schools in Western Australia. Data collected included general part icipant information (e.g. age, height); locations and postures adopted for laptop use; time on task and consequences of both using and carrying laptop s. 251 participants used the internet to complete the survey and 63 complet ed written surveys. Twenty participants were interviewed and observed using their laptops in various locations, The mean times for minimum and maximum periods of laptop use at one sitting ranged from 11.5-101.9 min. Mean dail y use (3.2 h) and weekly use (16.9 h) was also shown to be high. Postures u sed by laptop users varied according to location, e.g. home, school and boa rding house. Reported consequences of laptop use included technical faults, service and location limitations, hardware and software limitations, user limitations and physical consequences to the user. Sixty percent of student s reported discomfort with laptop use and 61% of participants reported disc omfort with carrying their laptop. Associations between school attended or year level with time on task and discomfort reports were evident. Relevance to industry The use of laptop computers is increasing, both in educational settings and other industries. There is however minimal research on the physical conseq uences of laptop use by adults or children, and therefore recommendations f or using laptop computers are tentative. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.