The Development of Musculoskeletal Disorders during Undergraduate Dentistry Studies—A Long-Term Prospective Study

Martin Kapitán, Lenka Hodačová, Eva Čermáková, Stanislav Machač, Jan Schmidt and Nela Pilbauerová
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Martin Kapitán: Department of Dentistry, Charles University, Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Králové, and University Hospital Hradec Králové, 500 05 Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
Lenka Hodačová: Department of Preventive Medicine, Charles University, Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Králové, 500 03 Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
Eva Čermáková: Department of Medical Biophysics, Charles University, Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Králové, 500 03 Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
Stanislav Machač: Department of Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine, Charles University, Second Faculty of Medicine, and University Hospital Motol, 150 06 Prague, Czech Republic
Jan Schmidt: Department of Dentistry, Charles University, Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Králové, and University Hospital Hradec Králové, 500 05 Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
Nela Pilbauerová: Department of Dentistry, Charles University, Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Králové, and University Hospital Hradec Králové, 500 05 Hradec Králové, Czech Republic

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 14, 1-14

Abstract: Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) frequently occur among dental practitioners and present a significant occupational burden with an early onset in the dentists’ career. This study aimed to analyze the five-year development of self-reported overall MSDs among the dentistry students during the course of their studies and to assess the possible influence of the risk as well as protective factors. The questionnaire inquiry was performed among the first-year dentistry students, regarding the occurrence of MSDs and the presence of potential risk and protective factors. The same students were followed, and they filled in the same questionnaire in the middle and at the end of their studies. A total of 73 dentistry students and 28 general medicine students participated. The occurrence of the overall MSDs statistically significantly increased from 30.1% at the beginning of the first year to 45.2% at the end of the fifth year among the dentistry students. The top-level sport was statistically significantly associated with the higher occurrence of MSDs in the fifth year and with the development of new MSDs between the first and the fifth year. This longitudinal prospective evaluation showed a significant increase in the MSDs occurrence among the dentistry students during their studies.

Keywords: dental ergonomics; dentistry students; development; longitudinal prospective evaluation; musculoskeletal disorders; questionnaire; risk factors (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:14:p:7662-:d:597068

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