Fear and Practice Modifications among Dentists to Combat Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Outbreak

An outbreak of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in China has influenced every aspect of life. Healthcare professionals, especially dentists, are exposed to a higher risk of getting infected due to close contact with infected patients. The current study was conducted to assess anxiety and fear of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2020-04, Vol.17 (8), p.2821
Main Authors: Ahmed, Muhammad Adeel, Jouhar, Rizwan, Ahmed, Naseer, Adnan, Samira, Aftab, Marziya, Zafar, Muhammad Sohail, Khurshid, Zohaib
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Anxiety
Anxiety - psychology
Betacoronavirus
Body temperature
China - epidemiology
Coronaviridae
Coronavirus
Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology
Coronavirus Infections - psychology
Coronavirus Infections - transmission
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Cross-Sectional Studies
Dental care
Dentistry
Dentists
Dentists - psychology
Dentists - statistics & numerical data
Disease control
Disease Outbreaks
Disease transmission
Fear
Female
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Health risks
Health services
Humans
Immune system
Infections
Internet
Male
Masks
Outbreaks
Pandemics
Patients
Pneumonia, Viral - epidemiology
Pneumonia, Viral - prevention & control
Pneumonia, Viral - psychology
Pneumonia, Viral - transmission
Practice Patterns, Dentists
Quarantine
Questionnaires
SARS-CoV-2
Statistical analysis
Stress, Psychological
Surveys and Questionnaires
Viral diseases
Websites
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Summary:An outbreak of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in China has influenced every aspect of life. Healthcare professionals, especially dentists, are exposed to a higher risk of getting infected due to close contact with infected patients. The current study was conducted to assess anxiety and fear of getting infected among dentists while working during the current novel coronavirus diseases (COVID-19) outbreak. In addition, dentists' knowledge about various practice modifications to combat COVID-19 has been evaluated. A cross-sectional study was conducted using an online survey from 10th to 17th March 2020. The well-constructed questionnaire was designed and registered at online website (Kwiksurveys) and validated. A total of 669 participants from 30 different countries across the world responded. After scrutiny, completed questionnaires (n = 650) were included in the study. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 25. Chi-Square and Spearman correlation tests were applied to control confounders and assess the relation of dentists' response with respect to gender and educational level. More than two-thirds of the general dental practitioners (78%) from 30 countries questioned were anxious and scared by the devastating effects of COVID-19. A large number of dentists (90%) were aware of recent changes in the treatment protocols. However, execution of amended treatment protocol was recorded as 61%. The majority of the dentists (76%) were working in the hospital setting out of which 74% were from private, and 20% were from government setups. Individually we received a large number of responses from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, but collectively more than 50% of the responses were from other parts of the world. Despite having a high standard of knowledge and practice, dental practitioners around the globe are in a state of anxiety and fear while working in their respective fields due to the COVID-19 pandemic impact on humanity. A number of dental practices have either modified their services according to the recommended guidelines to emergency treatment only or closed down practices for an uncertain period.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph17082821