A study on relationship between neck pain and handgrip strength in dentists as an occupational hazard

Objective: To find the correlation between neck pain and handgrip strength among male and female dentists separately. Background: Dentists are more prone to repetitive strain injury and work related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Handgrip is the functional unit of dentists, used to hold instruments firmly as slight movement in instrumentation while doing their job may affect patient badly. Muscles of handgrip are supplied by cervical nerves. Dentist while doing their job put more strain on neck for prolonged period of time and this leads to acute pain in neck which if prolonged becomes chronic. This is one of the reason to make them leave the job. Methodology: 40 dentists were observed, who were suffering from pain in neck since few months (out of which 25 female and 15 male). Their ages ranged from 23 to 26 years with no medical history of trauma. Pain intensity was determined by visual analog scale (VAS) and handgrip strength was measured using standard adjustable handgrip dynamometer in kilogram (kg) unit. Result: On data analysis result showed significant negative correlation between neck pain and handgrip strength with p-value (p<0.05). Conclusion: There is indirect correlation between neck pain and handgrip strength.

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