Musculoskeletal pain in Dentistry students

Abstract

A descriptive study of observational and cross-sectional approach in which was used an Ergonomics and Posture Questionnaire for Dentists adapted by the researchers, associated with the Cooler Quiz. The sample comprised 43 students who attended between the 6th, 8th and 10th academic periods. The data were submitted to descriptive analysis and expressed as percentages, means and standard deviations, also maximum and minimum. For the comparative analysis between the variables, we used the chi-square test, chi-square test with Yates correction or Fisher exact test, when necessary, considering the significance level of 5%. Results: Among the students surveyed 20 (46.51%) were men and 23 (53.5%) women with a mean age of 23.14 ± 10.24 years, maximum of 35 years and minimum of 19. It was found that 40 (93.02%) reported pain in some part of the body, 23 (53.5%) in the upper limbs, 20 (46.5%) in the lower limbs and 37 (86%) in axial skeleton, with no difference between genders (p = 0.59). Pain intensity was classified as mild 10 (25%), moderate 21(52.5%) and severe 7 (17.5%). In the assessment we evidenced the direct correlation between the hours of trainning and the intensity of pain. Conclusions: The results of the survey showed that the students assessed developed high frequency of musculoskeletal pain and that pain was associated with hours of daily training held during graduation at the dental clinic.