People using tablet computers should place the device on the table and tilt its screen rather than holding it on their lap for a long time.
Harvard School of Public Health and Microsoft experts say tablet computer users are at a higher risk of texting neck pain than laptop users.
During the trail, Jack Dennerlein and colleagues filmed 15 volunteers as they worked on the tablet in four common configurations and studied their movements by using a motion-analysis system,
In the first position called lap-hand the tablet was not placed in its proprietary case but held on the lap in one hand while the other hand was used to touch the screen.
In the second position or lap-case, users kept their tablet in its case but hold it on their lap working with both hands on the screen.
In the third configuration or table-case, the tablet was set up in its case on a table while its screen set at a lower angle and volunteers worked with both hands.
In the last position known as table-movie, the tablet was placed on the table in its case and tilted at a higher angle. The user did not work on the screen and instead watched movies or other programming on it.
Tablet users generally had more acute angles of head and neck flexion than desktop or notebook computers, says the report published in the accident-prevention journal .
Findings also showed that when the two tablets were in the “table-movie”' configuration in which the screen's angle was at its steepest, the user's posture approach was a neutral position.
Results suggest that tablet users could place the tablet higher, on a table rather than the lap, to avoid low gaze angles. They can also use a case that provides steeper view angles, the authors concluded.
