Inter-Rater Reliability of the Mouse-Personal Computer Style Instrument (M-PeCS)

The purpose of this study was to test the inter-rater reliability of an observational instrument, the Mouse-Personal Computer Style instrument (M-PeCS), which assesses the stereotypical postures and movements of the upper body and upper extremity associated with computer mouse use. Two trained raters independently rated the video clips of 10 computer users completing three mouse tasks (pointing, steering, and dragging) for a total of 30 video clips to determine the inter-rater reliability. All but two items on the M-PeCS had good to excellent reliability (ICC=0.75 to 1.00). These results suggest that most items on the M-PeCS can be used to reliably document computer mouse use style between trained raters. Potential applications of this study include identifying and quantifying the exposure to postural risk factors that may contribute to hand and forearm musculoskeletal pain associated with intensive computer mouse use