Comparison of the effect of flat computer mouse pad and computer mouse pad with wrist support on the activity of chosen muscles groups

Background
Prolonged office work fosters musculoskeletal tension and mental exhaustion. This can be caused by an inadequately adapted workstation, a lack of postural changes by the employee, or their ignorance of ergonomics at work. An ergonomic pad with a gel cushion under the wrist is dedicated for office workers.

Aims
This study aimed to compare the neuromuscular exertion of selected muscles during work at a computer using a computer mouse pad with a gel wrist cushion and a flat mouse pad.

Material and methods
A group of 21 volunteers underwent unilateral neuromuscular exercise assessment using surface electromyography (sEMG) of selected muscles of the upper limb and shoulder girdle, i.e., the wrist radial extensor muscle, the wrist radial flexor muscle, the anterior part of the deltoid muscle, and the descending part of the trapezius muscle while working at a computer using a computer mouse pad with a gel cushion and a flat pad. The percentage of movement task duration below, within, and above 20-30% maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) was analyzed concerning the duration of the entire activity when using a particular pad.

Results
There were no statistically significant differences in the activity of any examined muscles when working with the gel pad or the flat pad. For both pads, the examined muscles were active at less than 20 % of MVC for almost the entire movement activity duration.

Conclusions
A comparative analysis showed no differences in neuromuscular effort in the examined muscles when working at a computer using both computer mouse pads. In both cases, the effort was at a moderate level.