ASSESSMENT OF PREVALENCE OF LOWER BACK PROBLEMS AND RISK OF MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDERS AMONG DENTAL STUDENTS

Abstract

Introduction: Prevalence of lower back pain is very high among dental students. Among the MSD’S, lower back pain is the most common. The musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) is found very high in dentists. Dental activities such as surgery, prosthodontics require physical demand which leads to lower back pain. MSD’S occur due to several reasons like fatigue to some specific body parts which can be caused by many reasons like poor working posture, sustained muscular contractions.

Aim: As lower back problems are common among dentists , this study aims to assess lower back problems among dental students.

Materials And Methods: It is a cross sectional study conducted at dental college. The data was collected in the form of a questionnaire. The questions were asked through google forms. In total 105 responses were collected and entered in SPSS software and the outcome was obtained. 12 questions were asked for the survey.

Results: Due to the more working or reading hours, dentists face high intensity of lower back pain. From the survey it was found that more than 60% of the population suffered from lower back pain. Our results revealed that there is a high prevalence of lower back problems. It observed that lower back pain is the most frequently reported type of pain. It is also found that the students who work for longer hours in the clinic are more likely to report discomfort in hands and fingers due to correlation with the number of hours using vibrating instruments.

Conclusion:  It is concluded that there is a high prevalence of lower back pain among the dental students and dentists indicating that there is a high risk of musculoskeletal disorder. Some measures should be taken by the dentist and the dental students to prevent lower back problems.