[Comparative assessment of low back pain and its determinants among Iranian male general dentists and pharmacists]

ABSTRACT

Regarding the diversity of reported low- back pain among dentists in different countries and lack of control group in most of the previous studies, the purpose of this study was to compare low- back pain and related risk factors between male general dentists and pharmacists to determine the relation between dentistry and development of low back pain. In this cross-sectional study, 261 male dentists were compared with 193 male pharmacists as a control group with Standardized Nordic Questionnaire [low back section]. Subjects were at least one year in clinical practice after becoming qualified and did not suffer from connective tissue diseases and history of a traumatic event causing fracture in spinal column. The data were analyzed by Chi- square, T-test and logistic regression analyses. The prevalence of low back pain in the past 12 months was 54.8% in male dentists and 36.3% in male pharmacists [P=0.001]. Logistic regression analyses, adjustmenting for occupation, age, body mass index [BMI], smoking, working years and working hours per week, revealed that there was a significant association between being a dentist and having low- back pain [OR=2.54, P=0.001]. Dentistry as a profession in male gender is associated with low back pain, independent of age, body mass index [BMI], smoking, working years and working hours per week.