Awareness of ergonomics & work-related musculoskeletal disorders among dental professionals and students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Faisal Alyahya, Khalid Algarzaie, Yazeed Alsubeh and 1 others
PMID 29950762WHAT IT FOUND
Lower back pain was common among surveyed dental professionals and students.
Many said ergonomics was useful, but fewer reported applying it in practice.
Key findings
01Lower back pain was the most commonly reported musculoskeletal disorder, at 80% among all practitioners.
02Female respondents reported greater awareness of ergonomics than male respondents.
03Workload demands were associated with reported hand/wrist, lower back, upper back and neck pain.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study relied on self-reported answers, so symptoms, posture and ergonomics use were not objectively measured. It was done among dental professionals and students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, so it may not apply to other professions or settings. Because it was a survey, it cannot show that workload caused musculoskeletal disorders or that breaks, ergonomics or physical activities prevented them. The paper did not report how many of the 700 distributed questionnaires were returned versus incomplete, only that 561 were analysed.
Declared interests
The authors state they received no financial support and declared no potential conflicts of interest. The methods also say the study was approved and supported by the College of Dentistry Research Center and Deanship of Scientific Research at King Saud University.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the workload and symptom percentages as proof that ergonomics, rest breaks or exercise prevented disorders. This was a self-report survey, not a tested intervention.