Prolonged use of touch-screens keyboards leads to chronic shoulder problems

Washington: A new study has revealed that using touch-screen keyboards on tablet computers for long periods of time could lead to chronic shoulder problems.

The study found that touch screen, or virtual, keyboards, which lack a feedback mechanism indicating a key has been pressed, require less typing force and finger-muscle activity than conventional keyboards, but tablet users must keep their fingers hovering above the keyboard to avoid accidentally activating the keys, Fox News reported.

The study found that the muscle activity in the forearms was lowest when the subjects were typing on a virtual keyboard, while it was higher in the trapezius muscles in the upper back, which support the shoulders and arms.

The study was published in the Applied Ergonomics.