Our study investigates the prevalence of WRMSDs among Syrian dental students. This is the first study to do so in Syria to the best of our knowledge.
Our results show that 91.2% of the participants had trouble in the neck in the last 12 months, with 47% experiencing difficulty doing normal daily activities due to the pain in this regain. Making it the most prevalent area of musculoskeletal pain followed by the low back region with 87% for trouble, and 42% for disabling symptoms. This is in line with studies on German (neck: 70.9%, low back: 69.3%) and Saudi (neck: 69.2%, low back: 45%) dental undergrads.[10, 11] While in Aboalshamat KT study, the lower back, and neck came in third (43.9%) and fourth (36.4%) most common WRMSDs.[12] Moreover, a study in the UK showed that the lower back (54%) was the most common.[13] This also shows that low back and neck pain prevalence is higher in our data than in the aforementioned studies. The gravity of these results was highlighted in Myers HL study, which shows that the main health complaint that causes chronic symptoms, seeking health care, and absenteeism among dentists is lower back pain.[14] Thus, identifying the causes that lead to these symptoms is necessary to determine effective ways of prevention. We found a higher prevalence of lower back and neck, trouble in the last 12 months, including most of the other body regions, significantly correlated with low quality of lighting of the clinic, low quality of equipment, mobility problems between dental and radiology clinics, long use of vibrating tools, uncomfortable working positions, keeping a static position, and longer working hours per week. While a lower prevalence was significantly correlated with taking periodic breaks.
This could reflect the low level of awareness among dental students concerning ergonomics, as a study by Alyahya F, showed a low level of ergonomic awareness in undergraduate students when compared to general dental practitioners.[15] Also, the aforementioned results highlight the importance of securing good logistics including good lighting and equipment for the clinic and facilitating access to radiology clinics, which is the responsibility of the concerned universities.
In addition to encouraging students to apply several different strategies to limit WRMSDs by enhancing ergonomics. Which include periodic breaks, stretching exercises, proper chair-side positioning, avoiding prolonged static postures, and trunk twisting.[16], which could all be taught in an ergonomic-specific course as part of an undergraduate curriculum early in the clinical years. As early WRMSDs would affect the health of the dentist in the long run which will cause a financial burden due to more rheumatologist visits. Other approaches for WRMSDs avoidance include improving physical fitness, as many studies show that high fitness correlates with good back health.[17, 18]
Future studies are needed to confirm and assess the effectiveness of the proposed interventions to limit the occurrence of WRMSDs.
Limitation:
This research is subject to different limitations including the use of convenience sampling and a self-reported questionnaire that could reduce the external validity of the study results.