Ergonomic Design and Assessment of an Adjustable Laptop Stand Used in the Typing Task.

Abstract

Background: Laptops are ubiquitous tools in today's society; however, their prolonged use often leads to discomfort and musculoskeletal disorders due to their nonergonomic design. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an innovative adjustable laptop stand in enhancing comfort and productivity during typing tasks.

Methods: A 2-phase experimental design was employed. Phase 1 involved the development of a novel laptop stand considering ergonomic principles and expert recommendations. In Phase 2, a total of 25 office workers-13 men and 12 women-participated in 3 randomized sessions of a 2-hour typing task. They used the newly designed stand, adjusted their laptop height using conventional methods, or completed the task without any height adjustment (control). The Local Subjective Discomfort Questionnaire (LPD), the Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA), and speed and error rates were used to measure postural risk, subjective discomfort, and typing performance, respectively, during each session. SPSS Version 26 (IBM) was used for the analysis, and P ˂ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: The RULA scores were significantly lower with the newly designed stand compared with the other conditions. When using the stand, perceived discomfort in specific regions significantly decreased (P < 0.05). Moreover, the number of typing errors significantly reduced with the stand (P < 0.05), while no significant difference was observed in typing speed (P = 0.371).

Conclusion: The novel adjustable laptop stand significantly reduced discomfort and improved typing accuracy during typing tasks, suggesting its potential to enhance user comfort and productivity. However, further longitudinal studies are needed to assess the long-term effects of this intervention.