Musculoskeletal disorders among dental personnel of government sector in Khon Kaen province.

Abstract

This cross-sectional descriptive study aimed to determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among dental personnel of government sector in Khon Kaen province.  There were 282 dental personnel enrolled into this study. Data were collected by interviews with the structural questionnaires. Descriptive statistics were used to describe characteristics of participants and MSDs prevalence and 95% confidence interval (95%CI) were calculated. The results showed that most participants were female (81.9%), the mean age was 32.8 years (S.D. = 9.4 years) and  body mass index was normal level (18.5 – 22.9 kg/m²) for 55.3%. Most work positions were dental nurses (46.4%), followed by dentists (22.0%) and patient assistants (18.1%), respectively. The last 7-day and 1- month prevalence of MSDs were  57.8 (95%CI=51.8-63.6) and 93.6% (95% CI = 90.0-96.2), respectively. At severe level of pain, the top three prevalences were found at shoulder (24.6 %), lower back  (19.3%), and neck (16.7%), respectively. When the frequency of pain at everyday occurrence was considered, the top three prevalence of pain were found at areas of shoulder (13.6%), neck (11.7%) and lower back (7.6%), respectively. Among MSDs cases (n=264), 76.1% of cases reported that pain impacted on working but normal daily life activity and 71.2% of cases reported that MSDs were caused by working. Cases reported the most severe symptoms occurring in the evening  after work ( 41.3%).  There were 64.4% of cases intaked painkillers or asked treatment by Thai traditional medicine program. The  findings identify the high prevalences of neck, shoulder and back pain among dental personnels at the severity level and the high frequency of pain occurrence. Therefore, there should be the health surveillance program of neck- shoulder- back pain among dental personnels. These results are very useful for the planning of the prevention of MSDs among dental personnel by further study with prospective cohort study to identify the risk factors of neck-shoulder-back pain.