Awareness and Practice Regarding Cross Infection Control Among Dental House Officers in a Tertiary Care Setting

Abstract

Background: Dental care workers including dental assistant & doctors are at joint risk of receiving infection. Cross infection can be defined as "the spread of infection between staff members & patients in clinical setting." Precautions should be adopted while treating or checking the patients. Methods: This cross-sectional study of 3 months duration was carried on dental house officers of Multan Medical and dental college Multan. 60 dental house officers willingly participated in our study. Universal sampling technique was utilized in order to collect the data. Informed consent was sign up from the partakers. Results: Out of sixty dental house officers, males were twenty seven while females were thirty three . 85% participants consider that dental clinics/hospitals are more predisposed to the infection/contamination than other medical fields. 73.3% partakers wash the hands regularly after providing the treatment to every patient. All the partakers reported that usage of PPE has a foremost part in the prevention of cross contamination. Majority of the partakers use gloves as well as facemask but goggles or protective eyewear, head caps & aprons were not in use by most of participants. Conclusion: Adequate awareness/knowledge but less satisfactory practice about infection control was reported. Knowledge acquired must also be transferred into everyday practice. Continuous infection control education through lectures/ tutorials or seminars must be organized. Cross-contamination control guidelines should also be established by dental colleges.

Awareness/ Knowledge and practice about the cross-contamination control among Demonstrators

“…This percentage is comparable to the study of Maqbool where 12.7% participants used gown for the treatment. 31 Good cross infection control should only be achieved by practicing strictly the universal precautions in the field of medicine as well as in dentistry 29,32 .…”