Exploring the Potential Occurrence of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in Dentists: A Bibliometric Analysis
Wita Anggraini, Annisaa Putri Ariyani, Indrani Sulistyowati, Vallerie Trisha, Jane Analdi

Faculty of Dentistry, Universitas Trisakti

Abstract

Background: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a focal neuropathy due to compression of the median nerve within the carpal tunnel of the wrist. Dentists are basically at risk of developing CTS related to ergonomic factors. Objective: The purpose of this study was to quantitatively explore the CTS publication network in dentists and other dental professions using Bibliometric analysis on the Scopus database. Method: Data mining on May 28, 2024, obtained 186 documents. The Boolean expressions used: ^carpal tunnel syndrome^ OR ^carpal tunnel^ AND dentist* OR dental* OR periodon* OR orthodont* OR prosthodon* OR ^oral surgeon^. Data cleaning and analysis were performed using Open Refine, VOSviewer, Thesaurus, Microsoft Excel, and Tableau Professional. Result: The United States is the largest contributing country and received the highest citations (70 documents, 1925 citations). Journal of Dental Hygiene (15 documents, 274 citations) and Journal of the American Dental Association (8 documents, 129 citations) were the journals with the most documents. However, a conference paper published by the Journal of the American Medical Association/JAMA had the top citation of 752 citations. Discussion: Based on this bibliometric analysis, documents on CTS in dentists are still very few compared to CTS documents from various aspects. Conclusion: HFE (Human Factor and Ergonomics) intervention to prevent the potential for CTS is a research gap that still needs to be elaborated in various research methods and designs.

Keywords: carpal tunnel syndrome, dentists, ergonomic, bibliometric analysis

Topic: Basic Medicine (Anatomy, Physiology, etc.)