Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Disorders in Dental Students and Dentists, and Its Relationship With Extra-Occupational Factors.

INTRODUCTION

Dentistry is a demanding profession, in which the oral health team is subjected to conditions, both intra-occupational to the profession (extreme and repetitive postures and movements during the working day) and extra-occupational, related to the demands of the profession (lack of time for basic needs such as diet, physical exercise, free time, sleep, social relations given the need for continuing education) that put health at risk. As a consequence, dentists and students have a very high prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).

OBJECTIVE

To determine the relationship between the MSDs of dental students and dentists and extra-occupational factors.

MATERIALS AND METHOD: In order to be able to analyze the different study factors, a survey was conducted using validated and accepted questionnaires: Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Maslash Burnout Inventory, Exercise, Nordic Questionnaire, Mediterranean Diet, Musculoskeletal Pathology Nordic Musculoskeletal Symptom Questionnaire, Pemberton Happiness Index and Diaz et al. questionnaire.

RESULTS

A total of 178 participants were enrolled in the study. The sample consisted of 56 second-year students and 39 fifth-year students, and 74 dentists. The prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among second-year students is 83.93%, while it is 87.18% and 91.46% among fifth-year students and dentists, respectively. The neck is the most common area of concern in all three groups, followed by the lower back and shoulder. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was low in all three cohorts, and there was no evidence of burnout, a moderate level of physical activity, but decreasing with age, happiness on average, with mild sleep disturbance (moderate in second-year medical students).

CONCLUSIONS

MSDs in dentistry are a multifactorial consequence. Our study has determined that physical activity is the most relevant extra-occupational factor in modulating the pathology. However, further research is required to gain a full understanding of the relationship between MSDs and different extra-occupational factors.