Occupational health issues of oral health care workers in Edo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Objectives: To assess awareness and prevalences of occupational health problems among oral health care workers in Edo State, Nigeria. Methods: This cross‐sectional survey was conducted among oral health care workers working in two tiers of health care delivery in secondary and tertiary government‐owned dental centres across Edo State from December 2008 to February 2009. A self‐administered questionnaire was used to elicit information on demographic characteristics, awareness and prevalences of occupational problems, and preventive measures. Results: The response rate was 93.8%. Overall, 71.1% of respondents were dentists; other respondent groups included dental nurses and dental surgery assistants (16.7%), dental technologists (8.9%) and dental therapists (3.3%). The occupational health problem for which respondents reported the highest level of awareness was biological hazards (96.7%). The most commonly prevalent occupational health problems were musculoskeletal problems [wrist pain (66.7%), waist pain (76.7%), body pain or weakness (84.4%)]. Infection by biological hazards was reported by 6.6% of respondents, and included infection by HIV/AIDS (2.2%), hepatitis B (1.1%), tuberculosis (1.1%) and other infections (2.2%). Chemical hazards in the form of skin reactions to latex gloves (17.8%), camphorated p‐monochlorophenol (CMCP, 8.9%), X‐ray (7.8%) and other allergies (5.5%) were reported. A few respondents (2.2%) reported occupation‐related malignancies. Overall, 52.2% of respondents possessed a health insurance policy, and 93.3% and 88.9% worked in environments they described as well ventilated and well lit, respectively. A quarter (25.6%) of respondents used a film‐holder when taking intra‐oral radiographs and 23.3% used protective ear plugs when working in close proximity to noisy machines. Conclusions: Occupational health issues were significant among oral health care workers in Edo State. Awareness of biological hazards was very high. However, musculoskeletal issues represented the predominant occupational problem, and their potential negative impact necessitates urgent educational and ergonomic intervention.

Prevalence of self-reported musculoskeletal disorders of the hand and associated conducted therapy approaches among dentists and dental assistants in Germany

“…Such risk factors include instrument vibration, poor lighting conditions, poor positioning of the dental professionals when working on the patients or poor positioning of the patients [2][3][4]. The impact on the musculoskeletal system in dentistry is high, the upper extremity being especially very vulnerable [4][5][6][7][8][9]. Lietz et al [10] reviewed the prevalence of muscular-skeletal disorders (MSDs) among dental professionals in different countries.…”

“…The 12-month prevalence of MSDs in the hand varies between 25.0% and 49.7% [4,9,[11][12][13][18][19][20]. Other international studies report hand complaints ranging from 8.4% to 66.7% [8,14,15,[21][22][23][24]. Other research showed that 19.2% to 50.0% of dental students develop MSDs on the hand during their studies [25,26].…”

Prevalence of Reported Symptoms of Musculoskeletal Disorders among Doctors at the University of Port-Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Nigeria

“…A prevalence rate of 97.5% of these disorders was reported among sonologists 5 and a prevalence of 49.7% among clinical health workers in a Nigerian tertiary health facility and 95.2% among radiologists [20,21]. Musculoskeletal disorder symptoms have also been observed among dental personnel practising in Edo State, Nigeria with wrist pain, waist pain and body pain/weakness recording prevalence of 66.7%, 76.7% and 84.4% respectively [22].…”

“…Where: n = minimum sample size required, Zα = value corresponding to the confidence level of 95% which is 1.96. p = percentage or proportion of the attribute of interest from previous study. In this case musculoskeletal disorder; q = 100-p, d = error margin (5%).A prevalence of 84.4% was gotten from a previous study [22] A semi-structured self-administered questionnaire was used as the study instrument. The questionnaire was adapted from pre-existing templates [11,[26][27][28].…”

Skin wrinkles on the wrists: A new occupational skin disorder in dentists?

“…Dentists are at risk of some infectious diseases including tuberculosis, Human Immunodeficiency Virus, hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus infections. In addition, low back pain, hand and wrist complaints are the most common musculoskeletal problems in dentists [1,2]. They may develop contact dermatitits due to latex allergy and frequent use of dental instruments or some chemicals like disinfectants, detergents and solvents [1,3].…”