Development of a method to assess compliance with ergonomic posture in dental students

Abstract

CONTEXT:The ergonomic posture protocol is extremely important for the maintenance of occupational health in dentistry. The lack of compliance with this protocol results in a high risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders.AIMS:This study developed a direct observation method for the evaluation of dental student compliance with ergonomic posture protocol.SUBJECTS AND METHODS:The method is named compliance assessment of dental ergonomic posture requirements (CADEP). During the development of the method, 14 items were elaborated considering the theory of dental ergonomics. Each item should be classified as appropriate, partially appropriate, or inappropriate. After evaluation, all item values should be added, and the final score expressed as the percent of compliance with correct postures, with a score range of 0%–100%.STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED:The reliability of CADEP was assessed through intra- and interobserver reproducibility. For the CADEP application, 73 senior year students from the undergraduate course in dentistry were evaluated. The intra- and interexaminer concordance was estimated using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ρ). A descriptive statistical analysis was performed.RESULTS:The reproducibility of evaluator 1 (ρ =0.90; confidence interval [CI] 95%: 0.83–0.94), evaluator 2 (ρ = 0.83; CI 95%: 0.70–0.90), the interexaminer in the first evaluation (ρ = 0.81; CI 95%:0.67–0.89), and in the second one (ρ = 0.76; CI 95%: 0.59–0.87) was classified as good. In the analysis of the compliance, it was verified that moderate compliance was the most prevalent among the evaluated students (65.6%, CI 95%: 60.3%–70.7%).CONCLUSIONS:CADEP was valid and reliable for the assessment of dentistry students’ compliance regarding ergonomic posture requirements.

Preclinical dental training: Association between difficulty in performing restorative procedures and the adoption of ergonomic posture

“…In addition, in order to aid in this initial adaptation phase, the correct positioning of the mannequin's head based on the tooth involved in the procedure allows for adequate visualisation of the operating field and helps professionals to avoid excessive inclination of the neck and torso and consequent damages to the musculoskeletal system. 12,13,16 Another important finding in this preliminary study was that perceived difficulty of adopting the ergonomic posture items decreased significantly over the course of the school year ( According to Garcia et al, 12 the longer an inadequate posture has been established, the greater the difficulty the individual will experience when trying to correct it. Thus, the results of this study demonstrate that the implementation of ergonomic courses as part of preclinical training allows for the simultaneous development of motor skills and the posture required for safe dental procedures.…”

“…4,12,13 Strategies should therefore be implemented in their academic programmes in an attempt to reduce this risk. [14][15][16][17] A strategy adopted years ago by the School of Dentistry of UNESP Araraquara is the requirement of a practical course on ergonomics in dentistry. 4,7 Despite these efforts, students were found to still have difficulty adopting the ergonomic posture taught in the ergonomics in dentistry course.…”

“…As a consequence, students complied only moderately with the adoption of ergonomic posture requirements. 16 Garcia et al 5 found that dental students had adequate theoretical knowledge about the principles of ergonomics. However, they faced some obstacles when putting them into practice.…”

Prevalence of musculoskeletal pain in dental students and associated factors

“…The high prevalence of musculoskeletal pain is associated with the long working hours and the sedentary lifestyle of these professionals. Studies have shown that because of the ability to increase oxygen flow, improve cardiovascular/musculoskeletal function and help reduce muscle tension due to incorrect posture, these physical activities may be relevant in reducing pain symptoms in work-associated musculoskeletal disorders related to work [18][19][20][21][22] . Thus regular physical activity is suggested and is included in the curricula of undergraduate programs for the prevention of muscular disorders, especially back pain 15 .…”

Teaching methodologies for improving dental students’ implementation of ergonomic operator and patient positioning

“…The rubric was developed through consultation with existing literature on correct operator and patient positioning. 6,28,29 During the bivariate analysis of the data, ethnicity was shown to be a possible confounding variable (p=0.005). A multivariate generalized linear model (GLM) was performed to assess whether ethnicity, gender, or age range were statistically significant enough to confound the relationship between the intervention and the composite score.…”