[Survey of pathology associated with the use of video display terminals]

This study has been conducted in Sénégal, where Video Display Terminals (VDT) constitute for more than one decade an occupational tool for thousands of workers. Its objectives were to identify symptoms on VDT operators and to state the hazards related to its use. The methodology consists of a Cross sectional study using questionnaire based on the model proposed by the National Research and Security Institute of Paris (INRS). The study target was workers in 4 industries of the capital city Dakar, where VDT have been widely used. 152 persons have been questioned; 50.7% were male. 82.9% of complaints are related to musculosqueletic disorders mainly located in the low back, the neck, and the shoulders. Ergonomics problems appears to be the main cause of these symptoms; no replacement medical examination was performed and as the result, 23.6% did benefit from an ophthalmologic check-up in the 2 years following the use of VDT. Ergonomic evaluation of the working environment as well as medical surveillance are necessary to prevent occurrence of symptoms on VDT users in our country.