Knowledge and attitude regarding obstructive sleep apnoea among medical and dental practitioners working in North-Eastern Peninsular Malaysia: A comparative cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a temporary airflow obstruction during periods of sleep. Patients with OSA often suffer from poor work performance, compromised sleep quality, and low quality of life which may lead to a life-threatening event. Adequate knowledge and a positive attitude toward OSA among medical and dental practitioners are crucial to the initial diagnosis and treatment. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to identify the differences in knowledge and attitude toward OSA between medical and dental practitioners working in North-Eastern Peninsular Malaysia. METHODS: A comparative cross-sectional study was performed from February 2020 to February 2021. A total of fifty-two medical practitioners and fifty-two dental practitioners working at university-based outpatient clinics, government health clinics, and oral health clinics located in Kelantan State of Malaysia participated in the study, and data were collected by the structured questionnaire including sociodemographic inquiry and OSAKA questionnaire by non-probability stratified random sampling. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare knowledge and attitude scores between the two groups. RESULTS: The mean age of the respondents was 34.6 years. The current study shows that 92.3% of medical doctors and 96.1% of dental doctors were able to correctly answer the question "Most of the patients with OSA snore" a significant finding in our study. Only 1% of medical professionals could answer seventeen questions correctly with a median score of 11, and only 1% of dental professionals could answer sixteen questions correctly with a median score of 9. None of them could provide an accurate answer to all the knowledge questions. Medical and dental practitioners exhibited different knowledge levels on OSA (z- statistics=-4.39, U = 827.00 with p <  0.05, and effect size, r = 0.61). However, no significant differences were found in total knowledge score by gender (p-value>0.05), ethnicity (p-value>0.05), total service years (p-value>0.05), and training attended. In addition, significant differences in attitude levels between medical and dental practitioners have been observed (z-statistics=-3.42, U = 725.00 with p <  0.05, and effect size, r = 0.47). Nevertheless, no significant differences have been seen in total attitude score by ethnicity (p-value >  0.05), total service years (p-value >  0.05), attending training on OSA (p-value >  0.05), and professional status (p-value >  0.05) except gender (p-value <  0.05). CONCLUSION: A Significant difference is evident concerning knowledge and attitude toward OSA diagnosis and management between medical and dental practitioners working in North-Eastern Peninsular Malaysia. Medical practitioners in this study recorded a higher knowledge and attitude score compared to dental practitioners.

Can perception of fractured endodontic files benefit 1st degree dental students and dental educators: A questionnaire-based survey.

PURPOSE: This study aimed (i) to assess the perception of dental undergraduate (1st degree dental students) learners about endodontic file separation (EFS) and knowledge of its avoidance, as well as (ii) to aid dental educators in conceptualizing and designing student-directed courses for better understanding. The rationale of this study was to provide both learners and educators with a tool to help self-assess/impart knowledge and devise simple yet innovative modern ways of teaching in the field of endodontics. The study utilized a self-reporting dataset from one institution to disclose this limitation. MATERIALS: A validated self-administered questionnaire from a previous study was converted into an online Google form link consisting of 15 multiple-choice questions. This was distributed to 100 Year 4 and Year 5 1st degree dental students. Pearson chi-square test was used for statistical analysis (p < 0.05). RESULTS: The response rate was 81%. The majority of the learners expressed that performing endodontic treatment in permanent (100%) posterior teeth of old-aged people causes EFS (95.1%). Ninety-nine percent answered that EFS was a gender-independent factor, 72.8% perceived that patient anxiety leads to EFS, and 88.9% said that the apical third was more prone to instrument fracture and had the poorest prognosis (95.1%). Hundred percent, 93.8%, 100%, 92.6%, 100%, and 97.5% of respondents, respectively, perceived that the role of operator, coronal flare, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) gel, cleaning endodontic instrument, reusing instrument, and choice of instrument affects the occurrence of EFS. A total of 71.6% said hand files fractured, while 86.4% perceived that stainless steel alloy files separated easily, and 69.1% of learners perceived that EFS occurred often during the cleaning and shaping stage. CONCLUSIONS: The perception of 1st degree dental students regarding EFS and knowledge of its avoidance was good. Results from this study confirmed that the 1st degree dental students' clinical training courses and study modules adopted and designed by their dental educators were well-suited and appropriate.