Work-related musculoskeletal disorders among dental practitioners in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among the dental professionals of the public and private sectors of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. A standard questionnaire was circulated among 137 practicing dentists, including questions regarding age, gender, body mass index, clinical experience, posture during work, exercise and musculoskeletal disorders complaint. The data were analyzed using SPSS 17.0. The male to female ratio was 2.61. Majority of the dentists were in the age range of 25-34 years [51.1%]. Most of the dentists had a clinical experience of more than 10 years [48.2%], were working 5-6 hours daily and were practicing sitting dentistry [47.4%] and indirect vision [51.1%]. Musculoskeletal disorders were reported by 46.7% of the participants. The most common complaint was lower backache [57.8%] followed by neck ache [37.5%] and shoulder ache [29.6%]. There was a significant relationship between musculoskeletal disorders and the clinical experience of the dentist and the posture used. It was concluded that there was a high prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in the area of study