Assessment of perception of oral healthcare professionals in management of medical emergencies in children: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Medical emergency is an acute condition which can occur when least expected. It is more common to occur in a dental setup as this environment can be stressful for a patient. Children are more prone to emergencies as their dental procedures usually takes place under sedation. Therefore, it is mandatory for a dentist to have adequate knowledge, proper attitude and good training in handling any medical emergency seen in children during their dental treatment. Objectives: To assess the perception of oral healthcare professionals in management of medical emergencies in children. Method: A cross-sectional survey comprising 270 participants was conducted on oral healthcare professionals including interns, postgraduate students, practising dentists and faculty dentists. An 18-item validated questionnaire containing four domains of professional demographic data, knowledge, attitude and practice were distributed among the participants. Descriptive analysis was used followed by Chi Square test to check for association between age, gender, educational qualification and years of experience.Results: The level of knowledge, attitude and practices was lower in graduate dentists than postgraduate dentists. The correlation between knowledge, attitude and practices was found to be highly statistically significant (p=0.001).Conclusions: The study concluded that while knowledge and attitude levels were high in the population, there is a gap in practices of the dentists to handle a medical emergency.