Knowledge of Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders Associated with Dental Practice among Clinical Students of Federal University of Allied Health Sciences Enugu, Enugu State Nigeria

Abstract

Musculoskeletal disorders are a group of diseases that affects the muscles, bones ,joints ,ligaments, cartilages and spinal discs. This study determined the knowledge of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) associated with dental practice among clinical students of Federal University of Allied Health Sciences Enugu.  A cross sectional survey research design was adopted for the study.  The population of the study comprised 140 undergraduate clinical students of Dental Therapy Department.  An all inclusive sample was adopted for the study.  This comprised of 46(32.9%) males and 94(67.1%) females.  The instrument used for data collection was designed by the researchers.  The instrument had three sections A, B and C. Section A was basically on demographic data, section B was based on knowledge of WMSDs while section C had items on knowledge of etiologic factors for WMSDs.  Frequencies and percentages were used to answer the research questions. The results revealed that 48(34.08%) were knowledgeable on WMSDs while 92(65.92%) were not knowledgeable.  Gender related distribution revealed that 30(66.58%) females were knowledgeable while 18(33.42%) males were knowledgeable. In addition the finding showed that 80(57.14%) were knowledgeable while 60(42.86%) were not knowledgeable. The authors recommended that WMSDs be incorporated into the curriculum for dental therapy undergraduate programmes to ensure adequate knowledge and prevention of WMSDs.