Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche, Chirurgiche ed Odontoiatriche, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy.
PLoS One. 2022 Feb 2;17(2):e0262747. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262747. eCollection 2022.
The impact of COVID-19 on socio-economical activities has changed everyday life. Dental hygienists, who perform aerosol generating procedures, have been strongly affected by changes in routine procedures. This cross-sectional study aimed at carrying out an online survey among dental hygienists in Lombardy. The survey was implemented after the first-wave lockdown focusing on the level of knowledge on COVID-19 and Sars-CoV-2, the virus-related changes in their attitude and working routine, and the socio-economic effects. In this report, we included 313 questionnaires of respondents (259 Females, and 54 Males; age = 33 ± 9 years). A significant percentage of respondents acknowledged the use of "word of mouth" among colleagues (n = 114, 36%) and social networks (n = 113, 36%) to be up to date on COVID-19. About half of respondents correctly identified the main COVID-19 symptoms/signs, just 13% (n = 41) identified the routes of transmission. Three quarters of respondents (n = 234, 75%) were afraid of being infected during the clinical practice, and about half of them would be afraid to treat patients having symptoms attributable to COVID-19. Twenty-one percent (n = 67) of participants also thought about changing job. Air-polishing was identified as the highest risk procedure, and 82% (n = 256) reported that they eliminated its use. Most claimed they never had a swab or a serological test, with two respondents positive to molecular test (0.6%), and 12 positives to serological test (3.8%). More than half of the participants (65%; n = 202) complained the dental hygienist is not protected, despite a loss of earnings due to lockdown between 2,000 and 10,000 euros. This study demonstrated that dental hygienists were emotionally and economically affected by the pandemic, significantly changing their work routine. Anti-epidemic protocols are pivotal to react promptly and to contain the virus in the dental setting.
COVID-19 对社会经济活动的影响改变了人们的日常生活。进行气溶胶生成操作的口腔保健师受到常规程序变化的强烈影响。这项横断面研究旨在对伦巴第大区的口腔保健师进行在线调查。这项调查是在第一轮封锁后进行的，重点是他们对 COVID-19 和 SARS-CoV-2 的知识水平、他们的态度和工作常规因病毒而发生的变化，以及社会经济影响。在本报告中，我们纳入了 313 份来自受访者的问卷（259 名女性，54 名男性；年龄=33±9 岁）。有相当比例的受访者承认，通过同事（n=114，36%）和社交网络（n=113，36%）了解有关 COVID-19 的最新信息。大约一半的受访者正确识别了 COVID-19 的主要症状/体征，只有 13%（n=41）识别了传播途径。四分之三的受访者（n=234，75%）担心在临床实践中被感染，大约一半的人担心治疗有 COVID-19 症状的患者。21%（n=67）的参与者也考虑过换工作。空气抛光被认为是风险最高的操作，82%（n=256）的受访者报告已取消其使用。大多数受访者表示从未进行过拭子或血清学检测，其中两名受访者的分子检测结果呈阳性（0.6%），12 名呈血清学检测阳性（3.8%）。超过一半的参与者（65%；n=202）抱怨口腔保健师没有受到保护，尽管由于封锁导致收入损失了 2000 至 10000 欧元。这项研究表明，口腔保健师受到疫情的情绪和经济影响，工作常规发生了重大变化。防疫方案对于及时做出反应和在牙科环境中控制病毒至关重要。
