Prevalence of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Symptoms Among Dentists in Benghazi City - Libya

Introduction: Many diseases may affect the nerves of a wrist. One of them is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS). It is defined as “A painful disorder in the wrist and a hand that is caused by compression of the median nerve within the carpal tunnel of the wrist”. In the general population the frequency of CTS prevalence ranged between 3% and 6%. Objectives: To demonstrate the prevalence of CTS symptoms among dentists who working in Benghazi city -Libya. Methods: A cross sectional study conducted in Benghazi - Libya in 2019. 205 dentists worked in 14 deferent dental clinics across the city were included. They were required to fill in a questionnaire regarding the symptoms of CTS. Results:Out of 205 questionnaires were distributed, only 132dentists (64.4 %) were responded. Of those 132 dentists, 73 were male (55.3%) and 59 (44.7%) were female. The results of the study shows that 32 dentists (24.2%) of the total participating experienced hand or wrist pain has been at night, whereas 42 dentists (31.8%) complained about hand or wrist pain at daytime. In addition, 19 dentists (14.4%) of them felt hand numbness and 34 (25.8%) suffered from hand weakness during work. Moreover, hand tingling problems were observed in 23 dentists (17.4%), and the difficulty with grasping and using small objects were reported in 19 dentists (14.4%). Finally, the difficulty of handling manual devices and surgical forceps was detected in 12 dentists (9.1%) and 37 dentists (28%) respectively. Conclusion: This study shows a significant number of dentists who have symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.