Article information
Year 2003 Volume 53 Issue 1 Page 37-50
Title:
A Survey of musculoskeletal pain among Thai dentists and recommendations for prevention
Author(s):
Suwannee Tuongratanaphan, Songvuth Tuongratanaphan, Chintana Itthidecharon
Keyword(s):
dentists, musculoskeletal pain, occupational health, working posture
Abstract:
The aim of this was to obtain data on the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain among Thai dentists. Questionnaires were distributed to 1,197 Thai dentists. The overall response rate was 31.3 percent (375 subjects). 37.3 percent were male and 61.1 percent were female. 46.1 percent of the respondents have provided dental services more than 30 hours per week. For working posture, 60.3 percent did not usually used chair back rest and 45.6 percent sat with curve back. The study revealed that three most common location of musculoskeletal pain were lower back 82.1 percent, neck 60.5 percent and shoulder (backside) 48.8 percent. This study was a descriptive study and did not reveal relationships of any factor of musculoskeletal pain with the context of dental of dental work. However, this article also provided recommendations for prevention of musculoskeletal pain for dentists which would be beneficial to the profession.