Steven L. Sauter
ABSTRACT
The last half decade has witnessed a rapidly accelerating trend toward the application of video display terminal (VDT) technology for information management in the office workplace, and a growing body of scientific and anecdotal data on the implications of VDT use for the well-being of office workers [2,4,6-8,11,15,16]. A striking aspect of the research on this subject is the degree of conflict among reports regarding the type, magnitude, and causes of adverse changes in the health, comfort, and satisfaction of the VDT user, as is apparent in a recent review by Dainoff [5].
Methodological limitations of much of the work to date probably account for some of these inconsistencies. Many of the studies are demonstrations, or pre-experimental or field investigations with control or statistical measures which allow at best, only general and limited inferences regarding the effects of VDT work [4,8,11,16]. A more serious limitation involves the conceptualization or operational definition of VDT use which in turn determines the elements or factors which eventually figure into a VDT stress model or study design. As an operation or job demand, VDT use is clearly not a unidimensional phenomenon. Based upon findings in an investigation of health complaints and job stress surrounding VDT use in newspaper and insurance facilities, Smith, et al. [16] demonstrated that VDTs may present a wide range of organizational as well as physical or environmental job challenges. To date, numerous investigations have focused mainly on the physical ergonomic demands associated with VDT use [7]. A few have placed strong emphasis on job content, psychosocial, and related operational-organizational factors [8,11,16]. None have systematically examined the unique and integrated effects of these two sets of potential stressors. Smith, et al. [16] maintained that in studying the problems of VDT operators, the contributions of both work and workplace design factors and their interactions must be considered. This is the aim of the present study.
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Digital Library
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Index Terms
- A systems analysis of stress-strain in VDT operation
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