The Relationship between Working Environment Factors and Stress and Musculoskeletal Disorders in Dental Hygienists

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine musculoskeletal disorders and grasp the relationship between working environment factors and stress and musculoskeletal disorders in dental hygienists. The self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted with 483 dental hygienists working in Gwangju who were selected by convenience sampling. Frequency analysis, crosstab analysis, t-test, and multiple logistic regression analysis were made. Subjects' musculoskeletal disorders that complain of severe pains were 29.8%. The relationship between working environment factors and stress and musculoskeletal disorders were examined. As a result, work break frequency of working environment factors and stress were found to influence musculoskeletal disorders. For working environment factors, the odds ratio of musculoskeletal disorders of the two breaks group was 0.29 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.11∼0.73), compared with the no break group, indicating less musculoskeletal disorders. However, no significant difference was found in one break and more than three breaks groups. The odds ratio of musculoskeletal disorders of stress was 0.44 (95% CI, 0.27∼0.70), indicating negative correlation. As break frequency was moderate (two breaks), musculoskeletal disorders became decreased. Stress showed negative correlation with musculoskeletal disorders.

Awareness of occupational hazards and personal protective equipment use among dental hygienists

“…Most existing studies have focused their investigations on either exposure to infectious diseases and its awareness, use of protective gear to prevent infection [10-12], or symptoms of musculoskeletal diseases [13-17].…”