Prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among dentists in teaching hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan

Work-related musculoskeletal pain is common among healthcare professionals, including dentists. This cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among dentists. This study was carried out from January to April 2016 at various teaching hospitals of Karachi, and comprised 230 dentists. A self-administered questionnaire, adapted from a validated Nordic questionnaire, was distributed among the participants. Descriptive statistics were computed and associations of interest were analysed using chi-square test. Of the 230 forms, 182(79.11%) were included after leaving out the incomplete ones. The overall prevalence of MSDs was 138(75.8%). The most frequent reasons for MSDs were lack of rest 21(15.2%) and having static postures for more than half-an-hour per procedure 38(27.5%).