Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Pain among Dental Students

Abstract

One of the professions with high incidence of musculoskeletal disorder in the course of their professional career are dentists. Musculoskeletal disorders among dental professionals start as early as during the course of clinical training period at dental school. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain among dental students. The survey included the distribution of questionnaires to dental students from a private dental hospital during a one-week period. The criterion for selection was third to fifth year undergraduate dental student. The questionnaire included information on age and gender, and other variables such as year of study, presence of musculoskeletal pain, location of pain, characteristic of pain such as pain duration and intensity and frequency of weekly exercise. Data was analysed using SPSS Software and a chi-square test was done to find out association between variables. A total of 114 students participated in the study. 71.1\% experienced musculoskeletal pain and this was more common in females (80.5\%). The percentage of participants reporting pain appeared to increase with the number of years in dental school . The order of most prevalent pain locations was the neck/shoulder (44.4\%), lower back (28.4\%), thumb/hand (14.8\%), upper back (9.9\%) and wrist (2.5\%). The order of most prevalent pain locations was the neck/shoulder (44.4\%), lower back (28.4\%), thumb/hand (14.8\%), upper back (9.9\%) and wrist (2.5\%). Regular exercise was associated with alleviation of some pain. Within the limits of this study, it was observed that there was a high prevalence of musculoskeletal pain among dental students and prevalence was higher among females and dental interns. The most common area affected by pain was the neck/shoulder region.