Prevalence of De-Quervain’s Tenosynovitis among the Tailors in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Abstract

Background: De-Quervain’s Tenosynovitis (DQT) is a painful inflammation of tendons on the side of the wrist at the base of the thumb. These tendons are the extensor pollicis brevis and the abductor pollicis longus. The pain gets worse with abduction of thumb, grasping action of hand and ulnar deviation of the hand. DQT is common in tailors because they involve highly repetitive activities like- comprise of wrist, forearm and hand movements in cutting, stitching. Aim: The study was aimed to find out the prevalence of DQT among the tailors in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Methods: The study method was Quantitative study design including Cross-sectional study approach. This study involved 112 tailors from tailor’s shops and tailor’s houses through a purposive sampling procedure under non-probability sampling method considering the inclusion and exclusion criteria. People more than 18 years, job experience more than 6 months were the inclusion criteria. The data was collected by face-to-face survey through Sociodemographic Questionnaire, Patient-Rated Wrist Evaluation (PRWE) Questionnaire. Finkelstein test also used to determine presence of DQT on both hands. SPSS 20 version was used to conduct the descriptive analysis. Result: The tailors were aged between 20 to 68 years. The study population were predominantly male 67% (n=75) and 33% (n=37) female. The largest proportion had 33-39 years of experience 22.3% (n=25). Most of the population work between 5-10 hours per day, 76.8% (n=86). Most participants worked full time 92.9% (n=104). 56.3%(n=63) of the total population assessed had DQT. 53.6%(n=60) had DQT in right-hand and 2.7%(n=3) had in both hands. Older group people aged 59-71 years had a higher risk of DQT (mean rank 80.41) and younger group people aged 20-32 years had lower risk of DQT (mean rank 35.42). Conclusion: The study findings reveal the prevalence of DQT among the tailors. It is important to develop research-based evidence of Occupational Therapy practice. This study helps to discover the areas where people work with repetitive movement, awkward posture before doing any activities.