Knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding COVID-19 among dental health care professionals: a cross-sectional study in Saudi Arabia (original) (raw)
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Asian Biomedicine, 2021
Background Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is a life-threatening global pandemic. The dental profession is considered a high-risk group in the transmission of the responsible virus. Objective To assess the knowledge and attitude among dental professionals in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study of dental graduates, interns, postgraduates, and dental faculty from May to July 2020. A standardized questionnaire was developed to assess knowledge and attitude of 650 participants. The questionnaire comprised 14 questions to assess general knowledge about COVID-19, 11 questions regarding knowledge about prevention of COVID-19 in dental practice, and 10 questions regarding the attitude toward preventing COVID-19. Results Among the study population, only 376 (57.8%) knew the causative virus for COVID-19. Only 425 (65.3%) knew about rinsing the mouth with an antimicrobial solution or 1% hydrogen peroxide before the dental procedure. Regarding the...
Risk Management and Healthcare Policy, 2021
Background: Given the COVID-19 pandemic, it is necessary to assess the dentist's knowledge, preventive awareness, and attitude towards COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia. This study aimed to assess dental professionals' knowledge, preventive awareness, and attitude towards dental care during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia. Study Subjects and Methods: The study participants consisted of dental professionals working in government, private and academic sectors in Saudi Arabia. An online questionnaire (Whatsapp and Twitter) was sent to dental professionals in July 2020. The questionnaire consisted of questions on dental professional's demographic variables, their knowledge of the incubation period, the symptoms, mode of transmission, preventive awareness of COVID-19, and their attitude toward treating patients with COVID-19. Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests were applied to compare mean ranks and a p<0.05 is considered statistically significant. Results: This study included a total of 356 dental professionals (dentists and dental students) aged 22-60 years (mean±SD, 32.14±7.48 years). Majority of the participants were graduates/ general practitioners (GP) 145 (40.7%), followed by post graduate (PG) student 108 (30.3%), undergraduate students 23 (6.5%) and specialist 80 (22.5%). Dental professionals showed a high level (>90% correct responses) of knowledge of COVID-19 except for the infection among comorbid patients 283 (79.5%) and incubation period of COVID-19, 164 (46.1%). An overall high knowledge of COVID-19 (87.26%), preventive awareness (88.64%) and a positive attitude (65.26%) towards dental care were observed among the study participants. The mean knowledge ranks differed significantly in different genders (p=0.029) and marital status (p=0.023), whereas preventive awareness differed significantly across various qualifications (p=0.004). The mean attitude rank was significantly higher among Saudi (182.29) compared to non-Saudi (141.36) study participants (p=0.025). Conclusion: The dental professionals participated in this study demonstrated adequate knowledge of symptoms, preventive awareness, and a positive attitude towards dental care of the COVID-19 infected patients.
Journal of Pharmaceutical Research International
Introduction: The outbreak of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has influenced every aspect of life. Healthcare professionals, especially dentists, are exposed to a higher risk of getting infected due to close contact with infected patients primarily through aerosol generated procedures. This study aimed to assess the awareness and risks of getting infected among dentists in the western region of Saudi Arabia, while working during the current novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. In addition, dentists’ knowledge about various practice modifications to combat COVID-19 cross infection and spread were evaluated. Materials and Methods: A total of 329 participants including 123 males and 196 females responded to an online questionnaire consisting of 30 questions, which was circulated among all kinds of dental healthcare professionals through social media and e-mails after obtaining approval from the institutional ethical committee. Results: Chi square tests revealed significa...
The Open Public Health Journal, 2022
Background: COVID-19 has become a serious public health issue throughout the world’s healthcare system due to its rapid spread. Because COVID-19 is so contagious, workers must be properly trained to prevent the virus from spreading to them. Protective clothing, sanitised gloves, and respirators are just a few examples of the safety precautions that need to be taken. Dental institutions and their affiliated health centres and research stations have been severely impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. According to the World Health Organisation (2020), the risk of fast infection is higher among individuals who are close to or who operate near the patients, for instance, family members or health practitioners. This research was conducted to determine the level of knowledge, preparedness, and perception of Covid-19 among dentists in the private and public dental sectors. Methods: A cross-sectional study that uses a non-probability sampling method. The data were collected through online qu...
2021
Introduction: Dentists have a high risk of infection with COVID-19 because they are in close contact with patients’ oral cavities and saliva. Aim: This study aimed to assess the level of knowledge among dentists and dental students in Saudi Arabia about proper dental settings for treating patients during COVID-19. Methods: A self-reporting questionnaire was used in this cross-sectional study with 137 participating dentists and dental students across Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire assessed participants’ knowledge using 15 multiple-choice questions regarding COVID-19 dental settings and sources of information about COVID-19. SPSS software and linear regression, ANOVA, and t-test were used to analyze the data, with the significance level set to a p-value of 0.05. Results: A total of 25.50% of participants visited the Saudi Center for Disease Prevention and Control (Weqaya) website. Most (92%) got their information from medical or health professionals. Participants had a mean of 7.91 (...
SciDoc Publishers, 2021
Purpose: Healthcare workers involved in procedures, that generate aerosol or handling patient specimens, are associated with a high possibility of COVID-19 infection. Thus, this study was conducted to identify dental hygiene students’ knowledge of various guidelines related to COVID-19, their attitude towards COVID-19, and to assess their practices regarding COVID-19 recommendations. Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire study was performed. All Dental hygiene students in Saudi Arabia were invited to participate in this study. Interns were excluded. An online version of pre-tested and validated questionnaire was used to test the KAP for COVID 19. Results: The mean score for knowledge related questions was found to be 2.91 ± 1.59, attitude related questions to be 2.84 ± 1.41 and for practice related questions to be 4.20 ±1.36. After converting the scores into percentages, any score <60% was categorized as poor score, 60-80% as average score and >80% as good score. Regarding the knowledge of Dental hygiene students towards COVID-19, they had poor knowledge with the score of 57.8%. Similarly, the attitude of Dental hygiene students towards COVID-19 was poor as the score was 56.5%. But the practice of Dental hygiene students towards COVID-19 was found to be good with the score of 83.4%. Conclusion: The outcome of this cross-sectional study shows that most of dental hygiene students studying in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are following good practices toward COVID-19 inspite of having poor knowledge and attitude.
Frontiers in Medicine, 2021
Background: The recent pandemic outbreak has created a huge impact on dentistry. Dental students and dental professionals are at a higher risk because dental practice comprises close communication and widespread exposure to blood, saliva, and other body fluids. It is imperative to evaluate the knowledge and perceptions regarding Coronavirus (COVID-19) among budding dentists.Aim: To assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices of dental students regarding dental practices during COVID-19.Materials and methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted among undergraduate students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. An online questionnaire consisting of demographic, knowledge, and attitude-based questions were circulated among the study population, and the responses for the knowledge and attitude were scored. Their mean scores were then calculated. Chi-square test and nonparametric tests were computed using SPSS version 21 software, and p-values < 0.05 were considered statist...
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
As antiviral vaccines are still pending for the COVID-19 disease, improving dentists’ knowledge and prevention measures is important. This study aimed to assess dentists’ knowledge, attitude, and perception of COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia during the early outbreak period. In addition, infection control measures for dental setting were also assessed. Online questionnaire was distributed to dentists in different regions of Saudi Arabia when COVID-19 outbreak in Saudi Arabia was at its beginning. The questionnaire was assessing demographic variables, knowledge, attitude, risk perception, and preparedness towards COVID-19. Questions regarding infection control measures were also included. The correct incubation period of the virus was recognized by 43% of participants. Fever, cough, and shortness of breath were the mostly recognized symptoms for COVID-19 (98.9%, 95.5%, and 93.3% respectively). Participants in age groups ≥60, 50–59, and 20–29 years old were more likely to perceive COVID-19 a...
European Journal of Dentistry
Objective The aim of this study is to assess knowledge, attitudes, and clinical practices of dental professionals regarding the prevention and control of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Pakistan. Materials and Methods General dentists and dental specialists working in public and private dental practices, hospitals, and academic institutions participated in this cross-sectional study. A pilot-tested questionnaire was sent to dental professionals through an online link in Pakistan and data collection was completed in April-May 2020. The knowledge score was calculated from 22 variables about the COVID-19. Results The study included data of 343 dental professionals with 47.2% of males and 52.8% of females. The mean knowledge score was 16.78 ± 2.25, and it significantly differed between general dentists (16.55 ± 2.36) and dental specialists (17.15 ± 2.04) (p = 0.020), and those with up to 10 years of experience (16.58 ± 2.28) and those with more than 10 years of experience (17.05 ...
The Open Dentistry Journal
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