ABSTRACT
Aim: To evaluate knowledge, attitude and practices among sanitation workers regarding SARS?CoV?2 prevention during hospital waste management. Materials and Methods: A cross?sectional study was conducted among 426 sanitation workers using an interviewer?administered questionnaire to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices of the study participants. The unpaired t?test and Spearman’s correlation were used to find the mean difference and correlation among different study variables. Statistical significance was set at 5% (confidence interval 95%). Results: The mean knowledge score of the participants was found to be 7.15 ± 2.02. About 93.7% of the participants had good knowledge about COVID?19. About 64.3% of the participants strongly agreed that COVID?19 is a life?threatening disease. Regarding practices, a majority reported (69.7%) that they washed hands frequently using water and soap. A significant positive correlation was found between knowledge, attitude, practices and education, indicating a favourable work environment in hospital settings. Conclusion: More than half of the sanitation workers and housekeeping staff had adequate knowledge of COVID?19, and their attitudes were found to be favourable. They also had satisfactory practices, which may be a result of the prompt training and sensitization of sanitation workers by the authorities. Clinical Relevance: Sanitation workers come under the essential services category and their knowledge, attitude and practices needed to be assessed and updated in the concerned area for their protection and better management of biomedical waste, especially in the current pandemic situation.
ABSTRACT
Context: Oral health is a fundamental aspect of general health which significantly affects quality of life (QoL) of an individual. Oral health-related QoL is a multidimensional concept determined by race, education, culture, and experiences related to oral diseases. Aim: This study aims to evaluate the Hindi (Indian) version of the child perceptions questionnaire (CPQ11-14) among 11–14-year-old school children in Rohtak City, Haryana, India. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 586 children in Rohtak city, Haryana, India, to find out the translation and cross-cultural adaptation of CPQ11-14. The original version of CPQ11-14was translated to Hindi language, and the dental caries experience was measured by caries assessment spectrum and treatment index. Statistical Analysis: The data were entered into Microsoft Excel and analyzed using SPSS 18. Reliability was assessed in 2 ways: internal consistency reliability and test-retest reliability. The level of significance was set at 0.05. Results: Construct validity was confirmed demonstrating statistically significant associations between total CPQ11-14 score and global ratings of oral health (P = 0.00) and overall well-being (P = 0.00). Mean CPQ11-14scores (20.30 ± 10.91) including all the domain scores were higher among children without dental caries when compared to children with dental caries (19.79 ± 9.88) and the instrument was not able to discriminate between two clinical groups significantly (P = 0.08). Conclusion: The Hindi version of the CPQ11-14 questionnaire is a reliable instrument having good reliability, good construct, and convergent validity but lacks discriminant validity. Shorter forms of CPQ11-14may be more useful when compared to original construct.