Determination of awareness, knowledge and behavior of a preclinical dentistry student group about the COVID-19 pandemic

Determination of awareness, knowledge and behavior of a preclinical dentistry student group about the COVID-19 pandemic

Aims: Severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus-2 is usually transmitted by direct contact such as coughing and sneezing. In this survey, we aim to evaluate the knowledge of a group of preclinical dental students, who have not yet started working in the clinic, about the pandemic, protective mea...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Gülhane tıp dergisi Vol. 63; no. 4; pp. 305 - 312
Main Authors: Oral, Nese, Balci, Aslihan Aslan, Ozturk, Hilal Peker, Avsever, Ismail Hakan
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Ankara Galenos Yayinevi Tic. Ltd 01-12-2021
Gulhane Medical Journal
Subjects:
Aerosols
Behavior
China
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Dentistry
Disease prevention
Disease transmission
Epidemics
Health aspects
Health sciences
Infections
Pandemics
Pneumonia
Questionnaires
Severe acute respiratory syndrome
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
Statistical analysis
Students
Surveys
Viruses
China
Turkey
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Summary:Aims: Severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus-2 is usually transmitted by direct contact such as coughing and sneezing. In this survey, we aim to evaluate the knowledge of a group of preclinical dental students, who have not yet started working in the clinic, about the pandemic, protective measures, and the risks of infection in dental clinics. Methods: In this descriptive study the criterion sampling method, one of the qualitative sampling techniques, was used to evaluate students with no clinical experience. The respondents were the preclinical dental students (1st, 2nd and 3rd classes). The survey questionnaire consisted of four domains: demographic information; general information about Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19); preventive behaviors applied during the pandemic; and relationship of COVID-19 with dentistry. Results: Of the students surveyed (n=95, age between 18 and 23 years, female 67.4%), 47 were from the 1st class, 24 from the 2nd class, and 24 from the 3rd class. The least applied item among the preventive behaviors was the item "I have increased the frequency of cleaning the places that are in contact with the hands (e.g., door handle)" by 90.5%. The majority of the responders (97.9%) thought there was a high risk of transmission from the patient to the dentist. There were small differences in the direction of responses across student classes. Conclusions: Dentistry students who participated in this study showed significant awareness of COVID-19, and were highly adapted to the preventive behaviors. However, the results also suggested some deficiencies in the knowledge level of students about the risk of viral transmission during dentistry procedures. Keywords: COVID-19, coronavirus, dental student, dentistry, pandemic
ISSN:1302-0471
2146-8052
DOI:10.4274/gulhane.galenos.2021.86570