Comprehensive Knowledge and Preparedness among Dental Community to Confront COVID-19-A Multicentric Cross-Sectional Study.

ABSTRACT

The healthcare policy changes need to be updated for better management of the COVID-19 outbreak; hence, there is an urgent need to understand the knowledge and preparedness of healthcare workers regarding the infection control COVID-19. Therefore, the present study aims to assess the knowledge and preparedness towards COVID-19 among dentists, undergraduate, and postgraduates in dental universities one year after the COVID-19 outbreak. The multi-centric cross-sectional study was conducted by evaluating 395 structured, pre-coded, and validated questionnaires obtained from sample units comprising full-time dental students (undergraduates, interns, and postgraduates) and dentists who were currently in practice and who were able to comprehend the languages English or Arabic. The first part of the questionnaire included questions related to demographic characteristics. The second part of the survey consisted of questions that address knowledge concerning COVID-19. The third part of the survey addressed questions based on the preparedness to fight against COVID-19 including sharp injuries during this period. Comparing the knowledge scores of dentists, dental undergraduates, and postgraduates using the ANOVA test, dentists have higher knowledge and preparedness scores than postgraduates and undergraduates (p-value < 0.05). Univariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that undergraduates and postgraduates were 2.567 and 1.352 times less aware of the personal protective measures against COVID-19 than dentists, respectively. Dentists had the comparatively better perception in knowledge and awareness of COVID-19 than undergraduates and postgraduates.