Influence of the workplace environment and lifestyle on health of modern men aged 36-45 who use computers for work

Abstract

Background: The number of people using computers for work activities is constantly increasing. Such activities pose risks to their health that are typical of office employees. The purpose of the article is to determine the impact of the workplace environment and lifestyle on health of modern men aged 36-45 who use computers for work. Materials and methods: The study involved 71 men who use computers at work. The average age of the respondents was 39 years. The average experience with computers was 15 years. Results: During the analysis of the sample of men who use computers for work, respondents were divided into two clusters. Cluster 1 comprised 56.3% of the respondents and was labeled "Men with a reduced risk of health disorders who use computers for work" based on the results. The remaining 43.7% fell into Cluster 2, labeled "Men with an increased risk of health problems who use computers for work". Compared to Cluster 2, members of Cluster 1 are more proactive about maintaining their health. They take regular breaks during PC work, visit the gym, engage in healthy recreational physical activities (HRPA), and more frequently avoid using the PC during their leisure time. Additionally, they focus more on optimizing their work environment: their workdays are limited to 6 hours, they position the monitor 50 – 70 cm away at eye level, and they take active breaks throughout the day. In contrast, men in Cluster 2 report more frequent issues such as musculoskeletal pain, headaches, and disturbances in both their visual and musculoskeletal systems. Conclusions: The analysis obtained preliminary data on the impact of the workplace environment and lifestyle on the health of modern men aged 36 – 45 who use computers at work. We suggest that the scientific community should focus on developing interventions to overcome the trend toward a lack of healthpreserving measures while using computers for work which exacerbates the negative effects of the work environment on men who use computers for work. However, for final conclusions, there is a need for further scientific research in this direction.