Presentation
Use of Laptop Peripherals During Covid-19 Work From Home Impacts Stress, Discomfort, and Fatigue
SessionPoster Session 2
Event Type
Poster
TimeWednesday, October 12th4:30pm - 5:30pm EDT
LocationPoster Gallery
DescriptionThe onset of the Covid-19 pandemic created a rapid shift for a large portion of the population to a work from home situation. With this shift came a significant increase in the use of laptop computers. This survey-based study aimed to determine whether utilization of the laptop by itself, or with additional peripherals such as an external monitor, keyboard, or mouse impacted self-reported stress, discomfort, and fatigue. It was found that use of an external monitor decreased all three parameters between 4-15%, with similar findings for when an external keyboard was used (5-12% decrease). Interestingly, use of an external mouse increased stress, discomfort, and fatigue 9-16%, although this could potentially be due to poor body positioning in a makeshift workstation setup. These findings indicate that with prolonged laptop usage, it is imperative that external peripherals be utilized in an ergonomically design workstation setup.