The Relationship Between Writing Duration And Frequency With The Occurrence Of De Quervain’s Syndrome: A Study On Medical Students At Diponegoro University

Abstract

Introduction: Handwriting is a common activity performed by humans in their daily lives. Excessive use of the hand during writing becomes a concern when associated with musculoskeletal disorders. Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) represents a broad category of musculoskeletal disorders involving muscles, tendons, and peripheral nerves, within which De Quervain’s Syndrome (DQS) is classified. DQS is a disorder that occurs due to excessive use of the thumb and wrist, leading to inflammation and thickening of the tendon sheath and retinaculum. Objective: To identify the correlation between the duration and frequency of writing activities with the occurrence of De Quervain’s Syndrome.
Methods: This study employed an analytical observational research design using a cross-sectional method. The research was conducted at the Faculty of Medicine, Diponegoro University. It was carried out in november 2023 with a sample size of 114 respondents.
Result: There was no significant correlation between the duration and frequency of writing and the occurrence of De Quervain’s Syndrome, based on the Kruskal-Wallis and DQST tests. The p-values recorded in the SPSS output were 0.719 (greater than 0.05) for writing duration and 0.174 (greater than 0.05) for writing frequency, indicating that there is no significant relationship between these variables and the occurrence of DQS.
Conclusion: There is no significant correlation between the duration and frequency of writing and the occurrence of De Quervain’s Syndrome.