Objectives: To verify the existence of difficulties throughout the course of dentistry clinical practices, identify musculoskeletal pain, and evaluate frequency and intensity of pain/discomfort (if existent) in different regions of the body, experienced by lefthanded students in comparison to right-handed students of the odontology courses of the state of Rio Grande do Norte (Northeast Brazil). Methods: A general questionnaire was applied to identify left-handed students in a population of 750 students, enrolled in clinical courses. An adaptation of the Grad-Corllet Diagram and a specific questionnaire on clinical practices were applied to the selected students.Descriptive statistics was utilized to analyze data of the specific questionnaire, and Mann-Whitney statistics, chi-square or Fisher's Exact tests (with a 5% significance level) were utilized for the Grad-Corllet Diagram, searching for an association between discomfort/pain in different body regions and manual laterality. Results: All students presented higher percentage of pain in the lumbar and neck/cervical regions. However, left-handed students presented higher values, with statistical significance levels of p = 0.041 for lower back, p = 0.002 for neck and p = 0.003 for cervical region. Conclusions: The majority of left-handed students classified "moderate" the difficulty of working with equipment designed for right-handers. There was high frequency of musculoskeletal pain/discomfort, with relevant statistical results for lefthanded students regarding intensity. It is suggested that the participating institutions evaluate the adoption of inclusion politics, re-adapt the infrastructure to include 248equipment designed for left-handers, and finally provide adequate work conditions for all students.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.