RESUMO
BACKGROUND: The concept of standard precautions (SP) has been a cornerstone of dental infection control (IC) practice. Full adherence with SP guidelines is still a matter of concern in many institutions. The objectives of the present study were to assess and characterise compliance with SP guidelines among dental healthcare workers (DHCWs) and to analyse factors that affect compliance. METHODS: A regional cross-sectional questionnaire survey among DHCWs in all health facilities was carried out from August to November 2014. RESULTS: A total of 307 returned valid self-report questionnaires with a response rate of 73.1%. Most participants (86.3%) were aware of the SP guidelines, 84.4% received IC training and 88.9% received hepatitis B vaccination. Compliance with SP was found to be high; the majority (90.1%) attained 75% on the compliance scale. In the multivariate logistic regression model, perceived higher institutional commitment as regard IC requirements (odds ratio [OR], 4.34; P <0.001), perceived training as adequate (OR, 3.51; P = 0.003), dentist job (OR, 2.99; P = 0.035) and younger age (OR, 0.59; P = 0.041) were independently predicted as good compliant behaviour. CONCLUSIONS: This survey revealed high self-reported compliance with SP guidelines. Institutional factors appear to have an important role. Attention should be paid to dental assistants and private DHCWs.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Dentists suffer a high prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) but studies are quite limited. The present study was carried out to investigate the prevalence of MSDs among dentists in the Ha'il Region, Saudi Arabia. DESIGN AND SETTINGS: A cross-sectional, questionnaire study was conducted among 80 licensed dentists af.filiated with the Ministry of Health (MoH), Ha'il Region, Saudi Arabia from January 2014-January 2015. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A self-administered questionnaire, based on the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) was sent to participants after translation to Arabic. The questionnaire was delivered by mail with a prepaid return envelope. RESULTS: Sixty-eight questionnaires (85%) were returned. The prevalence of MSDs among respondents was 77.9% (n=53) with the most commonly affected areas the lower back (73.5%) (39/53) followed by the neck (66%) (35/53) and the shoulders (43.3%) (23/53). Twenty-four (45.2%) of 53 respondents had experienced MSDs in the neck and lower back at the same time throughout the past twelve months. Nearly 85% (45/53) of respondents were found to have MSDs affecting two or more sites. CONCLUSION: Prevalence of MSDs was high among dentists in the Ha'il region. Lower back, neck and shoul.ders were the most commonly affected body sites.
