Prevalence of Poor Hand Grip Strength in Dentists

Context: Musculoskeletal disorder are group of disorder that affect the musculoskeletal system involving nerve, tendon, muscle supporting structure. Dentists suffer a major musculoskeletal problems in day to day life due to their faulty posture. They usually work in flexed position for a longer time and repetitive moments occur .Major work is done by their hand and wrist. It may alter the hand grip strength in dentists. Aim: To determine prevalence of poor hand grip strength in dentists. Subject and Methodology: In this consecutive study, dentists working for 45 minutes or more were taken 40 dentists with 1 to 15 years of experience between age group of 20 to 50 years was included which considered of 75% of females and 25% of males respectively. Sphygmomanometer was the major outcome to assess the grip strength of hand in neutral, flexion and extension. Result: In neutral position 68% population had poor grip strength which was in between 100-200 mm/hg. In flexion, 65%, population had poor grip strength, in between while in extension, 60% population had poor grip strength. Conclusion: Poor hand grip strength was found in all three positions neutral, flexion and extension with p value of <0.0001