A study on job postures and musculoskeletal illnesses in dentists

• Authors: Ehsan Rafeemanesh , Zahra Jafari , Farzad O. Kashani , Farzaneh Rahimpour

Abstracts

EN

Objectives: Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) compose a large part of occupational diseases in dental professionals, prevention of which is dependent on assessment and improvement of job postures by means of ergonomic interventions. This study was aimed at evaluation of ergonomic conditions of the profession of dentists and also at assessing the relationship between MSDs and conditions of work. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed among 65 dentists using the method of Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA). The prevalence of MSDs was obtained by the use of the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ). Results: In this investigation, the prevalence of MSDs for different body parts was: 75.9% for the neck, 58.6% for the shoulders, 56.9% for the upper back, 48.3% for the lower back and 44.8% for the wrist. Job analysis by the use of REBA showed that 89.6% of limbs in group A and 79.3% of limbs in group B had a score > 4. Only neck and lower back pain have significant relationship with the risk levels obtained using the REBA method. Conclusions: It can be concluded that work postures of dentists need to be improved. In addition to education, work station design, rest period during work and regular physical activities should be taken into account.

Keywords

EN

musculoskeletal disorders; dentists; REBA

• Publisher: Instytut Medycyny Pracy im. prof. dra Jerzego Nofera w Łodzi
• Journal: International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health
• Year: 2013
• Volume: 26
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 615-620

Dates

published

2013

Contributors

author

Ehsan Rafeemanesh

• Occupational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

author

Zahra Jafari

• Occupational & Environmental Health Department, Torghabe-Shandiz Health Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

author

Farzad O. Kashani

• Orthopedic, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

author

Farzaneh Rahimpour

• Occupational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/s13382-013-0133-z

Biblioteka Nauki

2179134