::INDO AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES::

CODEN : IAJPBB
issn 2349-7750

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TITLE:

TO DETERMINE THE KNOWLEDGE OF DENTISTS AS HEALTH PROFESSIONALS REGARDING COVID-19

AUTHORS:

Dr Farzeen Khan, Dr Muhammad Aizaz

ABSTRACT:

Background: COVID-19 is an extremely infectious viral disease that is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It is single stranded RNA virus that belongs to a large family of coronaviruses named as “Coronavirade”. Its size ranges from 65-125nm in diameter. The aim of the study was to examine the knowledge, of dentists in our region, regarding novel COVID-19 disease. Study Design, Place and Duration: This was a Descriptive, cross sectional study, conducted in the Department of Dentistry, Peshawar Medical and Dental College, Peshawar from 1st June to 30st June, 2020 in Pakistan. Materials and Methods: A self-designed e-questionnaire was administered through e-mail to 500 dentists. SPSS version 23 was used to analysis data. Descriptive statistics were presented as frequency and percentages. The association between the dependent and independent variables was determined by utilizing Chi-square test and the level of significance was set at p value <0.05. Moreover, the inferential statistics (Mann Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis tests, p-value<0.05) were used for determining the significance among study variables. The correlation between the attitude and knowledge scores was assessed by utilizing Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. Results: A total of 306 dentists responded. Participants’ mean knowledge score was 10.69± 2.14, with 91.5 % participants having sufficient knowledge. 242 (79.1%) respondents showed positive attitude (>4) towards COVID-19. The mean attitude score was 4.28±0.61. The results of current study showed a significant correlation of knowledge with both designation (p-value=0.002) and gender (p-value=0.04). Conclusion: Pakistani dentists have exhibited adequate awareness about general symptoms, transmission mode, cross-infection control and dental practice management in perspective of the COVID-19 outbreak. However, their understanding to protect dental professionals from this highly contagious disease during specialized dental procedures was unsatisfactory. Key Words: COVID-19, Attitude, practice management, cross-infection control.