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

Abstract

Background Dental professionals are subjected to higher risks for musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) than other professional groups, especially the hand region. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of hand complaints among dentists (Ds) and dental assistants (DAs) and examines applied therapies. Methods For this purpose, an online questionnaire analysed 389 Ds (240female/149male) and 406 DAs (401female/5male) working in Germany. The self-reported data of the two occupational groups were compared with regard to the topics examined. The questionnaire was based on the Nordic Questionnaire (self-reported lifetime, 12-month and 7-day MSDs prevalence of the hand, the conducted therapy and its success), additional occupational and sociodemographic questions as well as questions about specific medical conditions. Results 30.8% of Ds affirmed MSDs in the hand at any time in their lives, 20.3% in the last twelve months and 9.5% in the last seven days. Among DAs, 42.6% reported a prevalence of MSDs in the hand at any time in their lives, 31.8% in the last 12 months and 15.3% in the last seven days. 37.5% of the Ds and 28.3% of the DAs stated that they had certain treatments. For both, Ds and DAs, physiotherapy was the most frequently chosen form of therapy. 89.7% of Ds and 63.3% of DAs who received therapy reported an improvement of MSDs. Conclusion Although the prevalence of MSDs on the hand is higher among DAs than among Ds, the use of therapeutic options and the success of therapy is lower for DAs compared to Ds.

Ergonomic Risk Assessment of Dental Students—RULA Applied to Objective Kinematic Data

“…Here, too, the surveyed dentists mostly worked right-handedly and reported MSD more frequently for the right hand/wrist. While the study of Haas et al [ 53 ] shows a high prevalence, especially for the right wrist, the present analysis specifies a worse posture for the left wrist. This discrepancy can be explained by the fact that other risk factors than just the body posture favor the occurrence of MSD in dentistry; these include performing precise movements with the hands or carrying out repetitive tasks over a long period of time [ 54 ].…”

“…This discrepancy can be explained by the fact that other risk factors than just the body posture favor the occurrence of MSD in dentistry; these include performing precise movements with the hands or carrying out repetitive tasks over a long period of time [ 54 ]. Since nearly all subjects were right-handed [ 53 , 55 ], the right hand holds the heavy, vibrating instruments and performs very precise fine motor movements. This fact, in addition to the ergonomics, increases the risk for MSD and is, thus, responsible for the higher prevalence of pain in the right wrist [ 53 , 55 ].…”

The Development of Musculoskeletal Disorders during Undergraduate Dentistry Studies—A Long-Term Prospective Study

“…However, these studies compared actual students in different years of dentistry studies. In all the studies, women suffered from MSDs more often than men [ 3 , 8 , 9 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 20 , 23 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 34 , 35 , 36 ]. The most frequent areas of pain are neck, lower back, shoulders and hands [ 3 , 7 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 19 , 20 , 23 , 24 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 32 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 ].…”

Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Diseases of the Upper Extremity Among Dental Professionals in Germany

“…Several other studies have reported similar results among dental professionals. 2 , 7 , 32 The findings correlate with the fact that dental professionals mainly use the upper body regions when working. Disorders in the shoulder region may be correlated to the repetitive motions, vibration and long duration of the procedures, prolonged shoulder abduction (>45 ◦ ) with elbow flexed and pronated with isometric and eccentric contraction, fatigue and strain deltoid, supraspinatus trapezius and serratus anterior.…”

“…4 Mainly involved regions of the body are the neck, lumbar back, shoulders and wrists. 2,[5][6][7][8] In the literature reported neck pain ranges from 20-84.9% and shoulder pain from 18.9-73.5%. 9 Similar results were documented by an earlier review, which focused on neck and shoulder disorders.…”