Dental & Oral Health

Objectives: Work-related musculoskeletal pain is commonly experienced various health care professionals and dentists are one of them. This study was conducted to assess the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among dentists in Karachi and to identify the associated risk factors.

 

Materials & Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among different dental colleges in Karachi during the period of 1 month. Self-administered questionnaire was distributed among 230 dental practitioners for data collection. SPSS version 20.0 was used for statistical analysis. Descriptive statistics was computed and associations of interest were analyzed using chi-square test. Level of significance was kept at ≤0.05.

 

Results: Out of 230 distributed forms, 190 filled survey forms were received. Eight forms were excluded from the study due to incomplete data. The overall prevalence of MSDs in the present study was found to be 75.8%. High prevalence of MSDs was reported in neck (58.8%) followed by lower back (51.6%), shoulders (49.5%), wrists/hands (36.3%) and upper back (34.6%). Statistically significant relationship was found between MSDs and age, specialty, no. of years of practice, awkward posture adaptation and working posture maintained for more than half an hour per patient.

 

Conclusions: Within the limitations of this study, prevalence of MSDs is very high among practicing dentists in Karachi. Most commonly reported sites are neck followed by shoulder, wrists, upper and lower back. The most frequent reasons for MSDs reported were both the lack of rest and static postures maintained for more than half an hour per patient.