Awareness Regarding Dental Jurisprudence among Advocates in Davangere City - A Cross-sectional Survey

Abstract

Background There are increasing incidences of complaints and lawsuits against doctors due to the increased awareness among the public regarding their consumer rights. Advocates play a vital role in solving these issues. Hence a survey was planned with the aim to assess the level of awareness regarding dental jurisprudence among the advocates.Methodology A self-administered pre-validated closed-ended structured questionnaire containing 26 items was used to assess the awareness regarding dental jurisprudence in terms of knowledge perception and practice. The Chi-square test and unpaired studentrsquos t-test were used for the analyses.Results The mean knowledge score of the participants was 10.28plusmn1.61 10.09-10.47 where 54.6 had adequate knowledge. 80 of them had the practice of handling medicolegal cases of which insurancerelated cases were majorly addressed 51.8. 86.8 reported of upgrading their knowledge through media the internet journals and through CDE programs. 53.6 of them were not sure if dental jurisprudence was adequately covered in their study curriculum. About 62.1 advocates expressed the need for continuing education programs regarding medico-legal issues.Conclusion Advocates in the present study had sufficient knowledge regarding dental jurisprudence. There was no significant difference in their knowledge across gender type of qualification and years of legal practice.