Perception of risk of musculoskeletal disorders among Brazilian dental students

The aim of this study was to compare the mean scores of perceived risk factors for the development of musculoskeletal disorders in dental students presently pursuing work/study, according to gender, course series, and the presence of pain/discomfort. The participants were 348 students from the under...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Garcia, Patrícia Petromilli Nordi Sasso [UNESP], Presoto, Cristina Dupim [UNESP], Campos, Juliana Alvares Duarte Bonini [UNESP]
Tipo de documento: artigo
Estado:Versão publicada
Data de publicação:2013
País:Brasil
Recursos:Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)
Repositório:Repositório Institucional da UNESP
Idioma:inglês
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.unesp.br:11449/227418
Acesso em linha:http://hdl.handle.net/11449/227418
Access Level:Acceso aberto
Palavra-chave:Brazil
Dental students
Ergonomics
Musculoskeletal disorders
Occupational health
Descrição
Resumo:The aim of this study was to compare the mean scores of perceived risk factors for the development of musculoskeletal disorders in dental students presently pursuing work/study, according to gender, course series, and the presence of pain/discomfort. The participants were 348 students from the undergraduate course in dentistry at a Brazilian public university. The instrument on work-related factors that could contribute to osteomuscular symptoms and part of the Nordic questionnaire were used. The psychometric properties of the first instrument were estimated. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) revealed that the instrument had a tri-factorial structure (s2 retained: 62.72 percent). The retained factors were repetitiveness, work posture, and external factors. The internal consistency and reproducibility were adequate (α=0.746 to 0.873; p=0.729 to 0.940). Lower mean scores of perceived external factors were observed for the male participants, as well as lower scores in the three dimensions of the instrument for first-year students of the course and for those who did not report pain/discomfort in the neck, feet, and ankles. The authors concluded that the perception of risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders reported in the work/study environment of dental students was significantly related to gender, the course series, and the presence of pain/discomfort.