Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jan 6;22(1):30.
doi: 10.1186/s12891-020-03887-x.

Prevalence of postural musculoskeletal symptoms among dental students in United Arab Emirates

Raghad Hashim  1 , Afraa Salah  2 , Fatemeh Mayahi  2 , Saeedeh Haidary  2
Affiliations

Prevalence of postural musculoskeletal symptoms among dental students in United Arab Emirates

Raghad Hashim et al. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. .

Abstract

Background: The purpose of the present study was to determine the prevalence of neck, shoulder, and low-back pain and to examine factors associated with musculoskeletal pain (MSP) among dental students at Ajman University and Ras Al Khaimah College of Dental Sciences in United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted among dental students using an online questionnaire, which was a modified version of the Standardized Nordic questionnaire, focused on neck, shoulder and low-back pain in the past week and the past year.

Results: A total of two hundred and two dental students (out of 368) responded to the questionnaire. The majority were female 75.2%. The prevalence of MSP in at least one body site in the past week, and in the past year was 48.5 and 68.3% respectively. The factors significantly associated with MSP in at least one body site at any time were having history of trauma (P = 0.009), lack of exercise (P = 0.001), longer clinical sessions (P = 0.000), and higher BMI (P = 0.010).

Conclusion: The present study indicates that the prevalence of MSP among dental students in the UAE is high. Careful attention from dental colleges is needed to increase students' awareness of this problem. This study contributed to better understanding of MSP among dental professionals.

Keywords: Dental students; Musculoskeletal pain; Occupational health.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest with respect to the submitted work.

References

    1. Ohlendorf D, Erbe C, Nowak J, et al. Constrained posture in dentistry - a kinematic analysis of dentists. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2017;18(1):291. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Moodley R, Naidoo S, Wyk JV. The prevalence of occupational health-related problems in dentistry: a review of the literature. J Occup Health. 2018;60(2):111–125. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hayes M, Cockrell D, Smith DR. A systematic review of musculoskeletal disorders among dental professionals. Int J Dent Hyg. 2009;7(3):159–165. - PubMed
    1. Lietz J, Ulusoy N, Nienhaus A. Prevention of musculoskeletal diseases and pain among dental professionals through ergonomic interventions: a systematic literature review. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17(10):3482. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hagen K, Linde M, Heuch I, Stovner LJ, Zwart JA. Increasing prevalence of chronic musculoskeletal complaints. A large 11-year follow-up in the general population (HUNT 2 and 3) Pain Med. 2011;12(11):1657–1666. - PubMed