Title

Prevalence and factors associated with musculoskeletal disorders among dental practitioners in Rwanda

Authors

Dona Soman¹, Danilo Milanes Zambrano², Ramnath Elangovan^3,*, Varun Chopra⁴, Bienvenu Emile⁵, Ishimwe Nicole⁵ & Twizerimana Ange⁵

Affiliation

¹Department of Prosthetic and Restorative Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda; ²Department of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda, East Africa; ³Department of Periodontics and Community Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda, East Africa; ⁴Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Medicine and Pathology, School of Dentistry, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda, East Africa; ⁵Department of Dental Surgery, School of Dentistry, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda, East Africa; *Corresponding author

Email

Dona Soman - E-mail: donasoman@gmail.com
Danilo Milanes Zambrano - E-mail: dmilanes75@gmail.com
Ramnath Elangovan - E-mail: ramubds2@gmail.com
Varun Chopra - E-mail: drvarunchopra@outlook.com
Bienvenu Emile - E-mail: bienvenuemile2@gmail.com
Ishimwe Nicole - E-mail: ishimwenicks@gmail.com
Twizerimana Ange - E-mail: angetwizerimana@gmail.com

Article Type

Research Article

Date

Received May 1, 2026; Revised May 31, 2026; Accepted May 31, 2026, Published May 31, 2026

Abstract

Musculoskeletal disorders among dental professionals remain highly prevalent due to prolonged non-ergonomic postures, repetitive movements and inadequate work practices. Therefore, it is of interest to assess the prevalence and associated factors of musculoskeletal disorders among 268 dental practitioners in Rwanda using stratified random sampling and questionnaire-based data analyzed with SPSS version 27. The overall prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders was 84%, with the neck (64.0%), lower back (62.7%) and wrists or hands (42.2%) being the most affected regions. Significant associations were observed with repetitive movements, insufficient breaks between procedures and increased working days per week (p < 0.05). Thus, we show the need for ergonomic interventions and preventive strategies to reduce occupational health risks among dental practitioners.

Keywords

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), dental practitioners, ergonomics, occupational hazards, work related musculoskeletal disorders

Citation

Soman et al. Bioinformation 22(5): 2756-2763 (2026)

Edited by

Hiroj Bagde

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

License

This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.