A survey study of occupational pain and injury in ophthalmic plastic surgeons.
OBJECTIVE
To determine factors associated with pain/injury related to practicing ophthalmic plastic and reconstructive surgery.


METHODS
A 29-question electronic survey was sent to the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery's listserv. The Chi-Squared Automatic Interaction Detector technique was used to generate a decision tree using SPSS software. The levels of dendograms were limited to 8. Significance was pre-established at α = 0.05.


RESULTS
One hundred thirty surveys were completed, and 72.5% reported pain associated with operating, 80.9% reported use of loupe magnification, 68.7% reported use of a headlight, 42.5% reported modification of their operating room practice, and 9.2% reported stopping operating due to pain or spine injury. Most respondents regularly exercise, with 55.7% characterizing the amount of exercise as less than necessary; 60.8% and 57.3% agreed that loupe use and headlamp use, respectively, can lead to spine problems.Chi-Squared Automatic Interaction Detector analysis found that 62.7% (n = 47) with neck pain had modified their operating room practice, compared with 13.5% (n = 7) without pain (χ = 30.42; df = 1; p < 0.001); All surgeons that had to stop operating (n = 9) had tried modifying their operating room practice; over half (57.6%, n = 38) of practicing surgeons had changed their operating room practice (χ = 6.09; df = 1; p = 0.014). The majority who exercised 5 hours or less had modified their operating room practice (70.2%, n = 33), compared with 26.3% (n = 5) who exercised more.


CONCLUSIONS
Many oculoplastic surgeons experience discomfort due to operating, and an alarming minority have stopped operating due to pain or neck injury. Participants identified loupe and headlamp use as a special concern.
Sivak-Callcott
Jennifer A
JA
Department of Ophthalmology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia 26505, USA. sivakj@wvuh.com
Diaz
Sebastian R
SR
Ducatman
Alan M
AM
Rosen
Charles L
CL
Nimbarte
Ashish D
AD
Sedgeman
Judith A
JA
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001416:Back Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019547:Neck Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D013508:Ophthalmologic Surgical Procedures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009885:Ophthalmology; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012955:Societies, Medical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States; D000078329:Workforce; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*