Ergonomics risk and neck shoulder back pain among dental professionals

This research was conducted to assess the ergonomic risks, the prevalence and incidence of neck shoulder back (NSB) pain among dental professionals. Subjects were 193 dentists and dental nurses working in government hospitals in Thailand. Data were collected by BRIEF (Baseline Risk Identification of Ergonomic Factors)’s survey and interviewing with the structured questionnaires. Subjects were followed-up for six-month to identify the new case of NSB pain. BRIEF’s survey indicated high risk from scaling (78.8%), filling (77.7%) and tooth extraction task. Neck, followed by back area was indicated for the highest proportion on high ergonomic risk from scaling and filling task. Back pain was the highest prevalence occupied in 58.5% of participants during the previous month before beginning the cohort study. Most workers had most complaint about combination of three sites (neck, shoulder, and back) for the onset of pain (36.3%). The cohort study indicated the highest incident shoulder pain in 1and 3month follow-up at 15.6% and 22.9%, respectively. For 6-month follow-up, back pain was shown to be the highest incident (42.1%), followed by shoulder pain. In conclusion, NSB pain was obviously musculoskeletal health problems as a group of pain symptoms among Thai dentists and dental nurses. Each scaling, filling task indicated high ergonomics risk predominantly located on neck and back areas. 6-month incidence of NSB pain could confirm the serious musculoskeletal health problems from exposure to ergonomics risk factors. Therefore, dentists and dental nurses should be aware of NSB pain development. The hospital should support workstations and dental tools with ergonomic designs to fit to individual and task. © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. Peer-review under responsibility of AHFE Conference.