COVID-19—Awareness and Practice of Dentists in Saudi Arabia

Background Given the COVID-19 pandemic, it is necessary to assess the dentist’s knowledge, preventive awareness, and attitude towards COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia. This study aimed to assess dental professionals’ knowledge, preventive awareness, and attitude towards dental care during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia. Study Subjects and Methods The study participants consisted of dental professionals working in government, private and academic sectors in Saudi Arabia. An online questionnaire (Whatsapp and Twitter) was sent to dental professionals in July 2020. The questionnaire consisted of questions on dental professional’s demographic variables, their knowledge of the incubation period, the symptoms, mode of transmission, preventive awareness of COVID-19, and their attitude toward treating patients with COVID-19. Mann–Whitney U and Kruskal–Wallis tests were applied to compare mean ranks and a p<0.05 is considered statistically significant. Results This study included a total of 356 dental professionals (dentists and dental students) aged 22–60 years (mean±SD, 32.14±7.48 years). Majority of the participants were graduates/general practitioners (GP) 145 (40.7%), followed by post graduate (PG) student 108 (30.3%), undergraduate students 23 (6.5%) and specialist 80 (22.5%). Dental professionals showed a high level (>90% correct responses) of knowledge of COVID-19 except for the infection among comorbid patients 283 (79.5%) and incubation period of COVID-19, 164 (46.1%). An overall high knowledge of COVID-19 (87.26%), preventive awareness (88.64%) and a positive attitude (65.26%) towards dental care were observed among the study participants. The mean knowledge ranks differed significantly in different genders (p=0.029) and marital status (p=0.023), whereas preventive awareness differed significantly across various qualifications (p=0.004). The mean attitude rank was significantly higher among Saudi (182.29) compared to non-Saudi (141.36) study participants (p=0.025). Conclusion The dental professionals participated in this study demonstrated adequate knowledge of symptoms, preventive awareness, and a positive attitude towards dental care of the COVID-19 infected patients.

show abstract

“…Several studies with similar outcomes are reported from Saudi Arabia. [29][30][31] All these studies had lower response rate than our study.…”

contrasting

confidence: 69%

Dental Professional’s Knowledge, Preventive Awareness and Attitude Towards COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Alwazzan¹,

Baseer²,

AlMugeiren³

et al. 2021

RMHP

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These findings are consistent with a study conducted among Turkish dental professionals that revealed higher knowledge about the COVID-19 aetiology, mode of transmission and the pre-procedural cautions among dental specialist respondents. These findings indicate a direct correlation between professional experience and LOA which is in total agreement with the previous studies [ 12 , 31 ] and disagreement with other studies reported from in Saudi Arabia [ 28 ] and Jordan [ 28 , 32 ]. The variation in LOA could be attributed to the difference in perception and education of the DHCP.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 52%

“…The response rate of similar studies conducted in Saudi Arabia was 28.7% [ 28 ], 28.2% [ 29 ] and 21.7% [ 30 ]. These values are much lower than our study’s response rate of 60.5%, probably due to variation in the target population.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge of COVID-19 Infection Guidelines among the Dental Health Care Professionals of Jazan Region, Saudi Arabia

Basheer

Vinothkumar

Albar

et al. 2022

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: This study aimed to assess the knowledge about guidelines related to COVID-19 infection control procedures among dental health care professionals (DHCPs) in the Jazan region. Methods: A cross-sectional study involving DHCPs (dental students, interns, and dentists) of the Jazan region between January and March 2021. A questionnaire with 35 items was developed and circulated online among the DHCPs. The dimensionality of the questionnaire was assessed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The level of awareness (LOA) was compared across the genders, level of professional experience, and exposure to guidelines. Participants were considered to have high LOA when they responded to 26 or more items correctly. Results: A total of 363 DHCPs participated in the survey. The questionnaire was found to be valid and reliable. EFA revealed a distinct three-factor structure. Moreover, 61.2% of the respondents had high LOA related to COVID-19 infection prevention. Among those who had high LOA, dentists (65.5%) were relatively more than the students (62.5%) and interns (46.2%). Among the six guideline statements related explicitly to operative dentistry, more than 50% of the respondents were aware of 3 guideline statements, while less than 50% of the respondents were aware of the remaining statements. Conclusions: Most DHCP had a high LOA for general COVID-19 infection prevention and control guidelines. Dentists, males, and those who read the guidelines had higher LOA than their counterparts.

show abstract

“…26 Taken together, increasing the accessibility to materials provided by health care authorities, intensive training programs for all categories of the healthcare workers, rigorous attentive protocols, and a commitment to change behavior/practice, will significantly benefit the spread of the outbreaks. 24,31,32,37,[40][41][42][43][44][45]47,48,60,78,84,131 Mushi et al suggested that "risk communication as an effective strategy to improve the attitude and practice of HCWs towards COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia". 89 Measures to enhance protection for HCPs and minimize psychological consequences/potential social stigmatization should be recognized in the planning stage before any pandemic.…”

Section: Participants Online Questionnairementioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19 and Saudi Arabia: Awareness, Attitude, and Practice

Fawzy¹,

AlSadrah²

2022

JMDH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-CoronaVirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has transformed our appreciation of healthcare awareness worldwide. The amount of related data accumulated during this time has surpassed any other outbreak of a viral pathogen. Healthcare awareness is related to one of the nine pillars of the "World health organization (WHO) operational planning guidelines to support country preparedness and response". This review is structured around the awareness/knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP)-related publications in Saudi Arabia up to date to understand the impact of COVID-19 on these domains. The excellent communication effort response from governments, international, and individuals to keep the public informed about the outbreak is highlighted. Unraveling such impacts on the Saudi communities, including healthcare workers (HCWs)/professionals (HCPs), students, patients with different diseases, and non-professional individuals, is essential in containing the outbreak and planning preventive measures in case of future outbreaks.

show abstract

COVID-19—Awareness and Practice of Dentists in Saudi Arabia

Cited by 10 publications

References 19 publications

Dental Professional’s Knowledge, Preventive Awareness and Attitude Towards COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Dental Professional’s Knowledge, Preventive Awareness and Attitude Towards COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Knowledge of COVID-19 Infection Guidelines among the Dental Health Care Professionals of Jazan Region, Saudi Arabia

COVID-19 and Saudi Arabia: Awareness, Attitude, and Practice

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About