Prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and posture analysis using RULA method in Shiraz general dentists in 2010

Abstract Background and Aim: The prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms in dentists is high although relatively few studies have been conducted in this profession. This study was undertaken to investigate the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms and to assess the risk of these symptoms among general dentists in Shiraz, Iran. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, the Nordic stan-dard questionnaire and a demographics questionnaire were filled out by 160 general dentists in their offices. Furthermore, the photos of dentists’ working postures were taken during dental treatment and the most repetitive postures were selected and as-sessed by Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) method. The data were analyzed by SPSS version 16.0 software. Results: A large number of dentists (139 cases) reported musculoskeletal symptoms in at least one region of their musculoskeletal systems during the past 12 months. Neck (105 cases), shoulders (80 cases), upper back (76 cases), wrist/hand (63 cases), and lower back (55 cases) were the most commonly affected regions among the dent-ists. A significant difference was observed between men and women only in the wrist/hand (P > 0.05). The results of posture analysis showed that all dentistsʹ postures fell into action level 2 and 3. Conclusion: The results of this study revealed that the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms in dentists was high and the risk levels were intermediate to high. There-fore, it is recommended that an appropriate training program be implemented to im-prove dentists’ awareness regarding musculoskeletal symptoms. Key Words: Musculoskeletal disorders, dentists, RULA, Shiraz, Iran