Qabool Hafsa, Sukhia Rashna Hoshang, Fida Mubassar
Section of Dentistry (Orthodontics), Department of Surgery, Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan.
Dent Med Probl. 2021 Jul-Sep;58(3):285-290. doi: 10.17219/dmp/134964.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) has had drastic effects among healthcare professionals.
This study aimed to assess knowledge and awareness among dental specialists, general dentists and dental assistants regarding standard patient care guidelines for minimizing the spread of the infection.
A survey-based cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 84 participants. The participants were divided into groups of dental specialists, general dentists and dental assistants. A modified version of a validated questionnaire was used to evaluate knowledge and awareness regarding SARS‑CoV‑2 as per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines. Data was analyzed using the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post-hoc Tukey's tests to assess differences in knowledge regarding the SARS‑CoV‑2 guidelines across the 3 groups. The simple linear regression analysis was used to examine factors influencing the knowledge scores.
Among all dental specialists, 13 orthodontists, 9 operative dentists, 8 maxillofacial surgeons, 4 prosthodontists, and 1 periodontist responded to the survey. The mean knowledge scores of dental specialists, general dentists and dental assistants were 10.05 ±2.10, 9.95 ±2.30 and 8.53 ±2.10, respectively. Overall, we found a significant difference (p = 0.02) in the knowledge scores between the groups, and pairwise comparisons showed that there was a significant difference (p = 0.03) in the knowledge scores between dental specialists and dental assistants.
These findings suggest that hospitals should conduct mandatory workshops, training sessions and seminars to raise the awareness of the novel coronavirus pandemic and disinfection protocols, not only for specialists, but for all staff members.
严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）对医护人员产生了巨大影响。
本研究旨在评估牙科专家、普通牙医和牙科助理对减少感染传播的标准患者护理指南的知识和认识。
对84名参与者进行了一项基于调查的横断面研究。参与者分为牙科专家、普通牙医和牙科助理组。使用经过验证的问卷的修改版，根据疾病控制与预防中心（CDC）指南评估对SARS-CoV-2的知识和认识。使用单因素方差分析（ANOVA）和事后Tukey检验分析数据，以评估三组之间关于SARS-CoV-2指南的知识差异。使用简单线性回归分析来检查影响知识得分的因素。
在所有牙科专家中，13名正畸医生、9名手术牙医、8名颌面外科医生、4名修复牙医和1名牙周病医生回复了调查。牙科专家、普通牙医和牙科助理的平均知识得分分别为10.05±2.10、9.95±2.30和8.53±2.10。总体而言，我们发现各组之间的知识得分存在显著差异（p = 0.02），两两比较显示牙科专家和牙科助理之间的知识得分存在显著差异（p = 0.03）。
这些发现表明，医院应举办强制性的讲习班、培训课程和研讨会，以提高对新型冠状病毒大流行和消毒方案的认识，不仅针对专家，也针对所有工作人员。
