Executive Director of Dental Programs, Seattle Central College, Seattle, WA, USA.
Assistant professor-clinical in the Division of Dental Hygiene t The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
J Dent Hyg. 2021 Aug;95(4):70-78.
Although repetitive movements may lead to musculoskeletal pain, static and sedentary postures may be primary contributors to musculoskeletal disorders. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine whether an alternating seated-standing protocol would improve postures, decrease ergonomic risks, and reduce perceived pain scores among dental hygiene students. Thirty undergraduate dental hygiene students enrolled during the summer term were recruited to participate in the randomized control design pilot study. Participants were randomly assigned to the training (n=15) and control (n=15) groups. The training group alternated between sitting and standing every 30 minutes while providing dental hygiene care. The Modified-Dental Operator Posture Assessment Instrument (M-DOPAI) was used to evaluate ergonomic scores, the Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) was used to evaluate ergonomic risk, and the Modified-Standardized Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (M-SNMQ) was used to assess self-reported pain. Photographs were captured and levels of perceived pain were assessed at baseline, week-4, and week-8. Three raters independently evaluated the photographs using the M-DOPAI and RULA. Participants completed a survey about their experiences in the study at the end of week-8. Descriptive statistics and repeated measures ANOVAs were used to analyze the quantitative data; thematic analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data. Although all participants perceived a reduction of pain over the duration of the eight-week study (<.05), the training group demonstrated no significant differences in ergonomic scores, ergonomic risks, or pain scores at the three time points (>.05). Qualitatively, participants in the training group perceived that the seated-standing protocol clinically improved their postures and reduced their pain. The results suggest there were minimal impacts of the alternating seated standing protocol on ergonomic scores, ergonomic risks, or perceived pain. More research is needed to determine whether there are objective benefits to an alternating seated-standing protocol.
尽管重复性动作可能导致肌肉骨骼疼痛，但静态和久坐的姿势可能是肌肉骨骼疾病的主要原因。本初步研究的目的是确定交替坐姿-站姿方案是否会改善姿势、降低人体工程学风险并减少牙科卫生学生的感知疼痛评分。在夏季学期，有 30 名本科牙科卫生学生被招募参加这项随机对照设计的初步研究。参与者被随机分配到训练（n=15）和对照组（n=15）。在提供牙科卫生护理时，训练组每 30 分钟交替坐站。使用改良牙科操作体位评估工具（M-DOPAI）评估人体工程学评分，使用快速上肢评估（RULA）评估人体工程学风险，使用改良标准化北欧肌肉骨骼问卷（M-SNMQ）评估自我报告的疼痛。在基线、第 4 周和第 8 周拍摄照片并评估感知疼痛水平。三名评估员使用 M-DOPAI 和 RULA 独立评估照片。参与者在第 8 周结束时完成了一项关于他们在研究中的体验的调查。使用描述性统计和重复测量方差分析来分析定量数据；使用主题分析来分析定性数据。尽管所有参与者在八周研究期间都感知到疼痛减轻（<.05），但训练组在三个时间点的人体工程学评分、人体工程学风险或疼痛评分均无显著差异（>.05）。定性分析表明，训练组的参与者认为坐姿-站姿方案在临床上改善了他们的姿势并减轻了他们的疼痛。结果表明，交替坐姿-站姿方案对人体工程学评分、人体工程学风险或感知疼痛的影响很小。需要进一步研究以确定交替坐姿-站姿方案是否有客观的益处。
