Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Dental Patients About Cross-Infection and Infection Control

Year 2021, Volume: 48 Issue: 3, 108 - 112, 31.12.2021

Meltem Tekbaş Atay , Mediha Büyükgöze Dindar

https://doi.org/10.52037/eads.2021.0033

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the patient’s knowledge, attitude, and practice of cross-infection control in dentistry.
Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Dentistry Faculty of……….. University. A total of 250 patients (134 female and 116 male) aged 18 years and older (35.5±13.9) participated in the questionnaire containing questions to determine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to cross-infection and infection control. Required personal and socio-demographic data were obtained. Chi-square test was conducted for categorical variables. Kruskal Wallis and Mann Whitney U tests were used to compare questionnaire scores (p <0.05).
Results: The majority of the participants (30.5%) reported that their sources of information on dental infection control were social media. Knowledge scores of females were statistically significantly higher than males (p=0.005) and participants living in the city were significantly higher than those living in the town (p=0.015). Knowledge scores of health-care workers were significantly higher than both other workers and unemployed/students (p=0.001, p=0.004, respectively). Regarding participants’ attitudes and practices, only 29.2% of the participants questioned the dentists about the contagious disease, and only 36% asked about the sterilization method of the dental instruments. The majority of participants perceived that wearing gloves, masks, eyewear, and face shield would protect both patients and dentists.
Conclusion: Participants in this study demonstrated a satisfactory level of knowledge about cross-infection and infection control methods in the nowadays’ pandemic condition. However, dental health professionals should take additional efforts to educate and encourage dental patients.

Keywords

Cross Infection, Dental Health Survey, Infection Control, Questionnaire

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