Association of lumbar spine mobility and hamstring tightness in dental practitioners

  Introduction and Aim: The decrease in lumbar spine mobility and hamstring tightness can be caused due to the lack of regular exercise and awkward postures exposed at the workplace due to an individual's occupation. It can be expressed due to the awkward posture during dental practice as well and this can be controlled by doing regular exercises.The aim of the present study is to analyze the association of lumbar spine mobility and hamstring tightness in dental practitioners.   Materials and Methods: The study is conducted in a Private dental college and hospital for the dental practitioners who work for more than 4 hours in a day.  The hamstring tightness is measured using the goniometer and lumbar spine flexibility is measured using an inch tape. The measurements are tabulated and analyzed statistically for the correlation of lumbar spine flexibility with hamstring tightness using the SPSS tool.   Results: The collected data are analyzed statistically using correlation coefficient and the findings concluded that they have a low positive correlation. The mean value of lumbar flexion range is 19.37 cm and mean value of the hamstring tightness is 27.8°, the correlation coefficient r is 0.473. Majority of female participants have increased hamstring tightness with a maximum range of 30° and around 11% of male participants have a restriction range of 25°. Similarly, around 8% of female participants have a lumbar flexion range of around 21cm, However, there is no significant difference between the gender in both the variables with p value equals 0.35 and 0.53 (p > 0.05) respectively.    Conclusion: From the obtained results it can be concluded that there is a low positive correlation between hamstring tightness and the lumbar flexion range.  The findings suggest that the dental practitioners are prone to hamstring tightness which in turn can induce reduced lumbar spine mobility and impacts stress on the lumbar spine leading to low back pain.