Prevalence of mobile device-related lower extremity discomfort: a systematic review

Abstract

Mobile device users often experience musculoskeletal discomfort due to the intensive use of these devices in static body postures. Prolonged sitting and standing at work and in free time are risk factors for various diseases and all-cause mortality. Prolonged static postures are the main cause of lower extremity discomfort. A systematic search of the articles was conducted in four different electronic databases. All selected papers were appraised using a critical appraisal tool. Fourteen studies were selected for the review. The prevalence of musculoskeletal complaints ranged from 0.4 to 72.9%. Mobile device-related lower extremity discomfort ranged from 0.4 to 9.6%. The most common body posture among mobile device users in the selected studies was sitting. There is some evidence for the association between lower extremity pain and mobile device use. Experts should take this review as a basis to provide appropriate and effective ergonomic measures, especially for working mobile device users.

Keywords:

• mobile device
• lower extremity discomfort
• musculoskeletal discomfort
• prolonged body posture
• prolonged sitting

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the support from the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana. All authors contributed equally to the conception, analysis of the data and the writing of the final version of this article.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author (K.Z.) upon reasonable request.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.