Self-perception of dentists and physiotherapists assistants and professors of higher education institutions regarding cervicobrachialgias symptoms

Abstract

Introduction: Repetitive strain injuries or work related to musculoskeletal disorders (RSI) represent a public health problem and are closely associated with occupational activities. Many physiotherapists and surgeon-dentists, who also teach, often undergo excessive workload, often having to reconcile the practice of their profession with the activities inherent in teaching. Objective: To evaluate the association of surgeon-dentists and physiotherapists who add teaching to their clinical activities, with respect to the development of Cervicobrachialgias related labor activities. Method: This is a transversal descriptive cohort study with a sample composed of 102 Surgeon-dentists and Physiotherapists. A total of 52 surgeon-dentists were subdivided, twenty-six in the subgroup ADT (Assistant dentist teachers) and 26 in the subgroup AD (assistant dentists); along with 50 Physiotherapists who were also divided into two subgroups, 25 in the APT subgroup (assistant physiotherapist teachers) and 25 in the AP subgroup (assistant physiotherapists). The Nordic musculoskeletal symptoms questionnaire-QNSO was adapted and validated for the Portuguese language. Results: We observed that for both, Physiotherapists and Dentists showed more evident pain in the shoulders, wrists/hands/fingers, and spine. Among the ADT, 88.46% (46) confirmed the relationship between their pain and professional practice, particularly in the spine, shoulders, wrists/hands/fingers (p0.001). The percentage of pain among the groups of Physiotherapist and Surgeon-dentists teachers was not statistically significantly different (p 0.05) when compared to Physiotherapists and Surgeon-dentists. Conclusion: This study concludes that musculoskeletal symptoms frequency was elevated in AD and AP mainly in the regions of the shoulders, wrists/hands/fingers, and cervical region. The fact that they accumulate the role of teachers in their professional practice did not seem to accentuate the pain of these individuals.