ABSTRACT
The prevalence of occupational neck and shoulder problems, measured in cross-sectional studies by questionnaire, seems vast. In a recently published study of newspaper employees, data for the year 2001 indicates that 75% of 813 employees reported some level of neck pain and 61% reported shoulder pain [9]. Leclerc et al. [32] found the prevalence of shoulder pain in 598 workers in a variety of occupations to be 59%. Similar ndings seem consistent across cultures. For example, 1041 computer users at Nigerian university campuses were surveyed. Seventy-three percent of the respondents reported neck pain and 63% reported shoulder pain [1]. Whether employees are engaged in physically demanding work [26], sedentary occupations, or an activity of moderate physical stress, neck and shoulder pain appears to be common.
