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Published on: February 2, 2020
Exercise intervention for a musculoskeletal disorder in an oral health student: a case report
1The University of Otago, School of Physiotherapy, Dunedin, New Zealand. stuart.horton@otago.ac.nz
Objectives:
to describe and evaluate the effect of an exercise self-management programme for an oral health student who was suffering from a musculoskeletal disorder which had developed in the clinical environment during the course of training.
Design:
Single participant case report.
Setting:
The University of Otago Faculty of Dentistry and School of Physiotherapy.
Methods:
The participant was a 21-year-old female student, enrolled in the University of Otago Bachelor of Oral Health (BOH) course, who was suffering back and neck pain which had developed during her training. A series of chairside stretches, regular home-based stretches, aerobic conditioning and postural strengthening exercises was prescribed. Pain and function was assessed using standardised questionnaires at the commencement of the exercise programme, and again at 6 weeks and 13 weeks.
Results:
The participant demonstrated an improvement in her outcome questionnaires exceeding the MCID scores after 13 weeks.
Conclusions:
This case report provides a basis for highlighting the importance of measuring and monitoring MSD in a student learning oral health skills; it supports the findings of previous studies showing that an exercise intervention has some benefit for MSD in oral health students.
