Investigation of Grip Strength, Pain and Anxiety Levels in Dentists

Jamar hand dynamometer, recommended by the American Hand Therapists Association and accepted as the gold standard in many studies due to its high validity and reliability, will be used to measure hand grip strength. Pinchmeter (Baseline Mechanical Pinch Gauge) will be used to measure fine grip strength. Hand grip and finger grip strength measurements will be made in the recommended standard position of sitting, shoulder adduction and neutral rotation, elbow 90 degrees flexed, forearm in mid-rotation and supported, wrist in neutral. In the test procedure, 3 measurements will be taken for hand grip and finger grip strengths with one-minute intervals between each measurement and the averages will be recorded.

Wrist isometric muscle strength assessment will be performed with a handheld dynamometer (Lafayette Instrument Company, Lafayette, Indiana, USA). Patients will be placed in the supine, prone and sitting positions using the positions required for the fine muscle test method defined by Lovett and will be performed without compensatory movements. Wrist flexor and extensor muscles will be assessed. The values obtained with isometric contraction will be recorded in kg. Muscle strength measurements will be assessed bilaterally, in three repetitions for 5 seconds. The average value of the three repetition results will be recorded.

Pain sensitivity to pressure will be assessed with a pain measuring device called an algometer. The Baseline Dolorimeter brand algometer will be used in the assessment. 3 measurements will be taken from the "midpoint of the upper trapezius muscle" and "C7" points between the lateral edge of the acromion and C7. The areas will be marked before the measurement. The algometer will be placed perpendicular to these points. The patients will be asked to report the moment they first felt the pain and 30 seconds of rest will be given between the measurements. The value on the display will be read and the pain threshold will be recorded in pounds (1kg=2.2 pounds).

The anxiety level will be determined with the Beck Anxiety Inventory. The Beck Anxiety Inventory is a scale developed by Aaron T. Beck (1988). This scale consists of 21 questions. For each item, the patient is asked to report how he/she has felt during the past week.

The items are scored as 0, 1, 2 or 3. The score range is between 0-63. For the total score, < 21 is considered mild, 22-35 is considered moderate, and > 36 is considered severe. The Turkish validity study of the Beck anxiety scale was conducted by Ulusoy et al (1996).