Geeking out does not necessarily lead to repetitive strain injury. A study by Stefan IJmker at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam shows that it doesn’t matter how long or often you sit behind a PC, these factors do not lead to RSI. Instead, a combination of factors that are all members of bad job syndrome, such as little appreciation and little variation, are the great sick-makers. A history of RSI also significantly increases the chances of the injury returning.

IJmker tracked 2,000 office workers for two years using forms and software that registered how much time subjects spent on tasks.

Earlier studies did show a connection between the amount of computer use and RSI, but almost all of these studies relied on having subjects report on their own usage patterns. IJmker’s research also shows that people who got RSI tended to overestimate how much they used the computer. The researcher will defend his thesis today.

Source: Blik op Nieuws.