In just four weeks, half of the participants who suffered neck ache and headaches at the start of the study (54% and 44% respectively) reported that they no longer experienced any pain. The study also showed a reduction in shoulder and upper back pain, with a decrease in the number of days during which they experienced the pain and their pain level.
The demands of modern office working environments and practices can lead to increases in health problems at work, in particular back pain and musculoskeletal problems (including neck and shoulder pain) – which are commonly identified as being among the top three causes of long term sickness absence of European workers – and costing approximately 2.5% of GDP (£13billion in the UK) each year in benefits, treatments and lost production.
Plantronics has found that the amount of time spent on audio conference calls is increasing, resulting in today’s office-based professional spending more hours on the phone than ever before. Coupled with increases in work intensity over the last two decades across Europe, many businesses are facing problems of absenteeism as employees are taking time off work due to work-related stress and ill-health.