Abstract
Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the understanding and perception of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) among the undergraduate preclinical and clinical dental students within Pakistan. Material and Methods: An online survey was developed by the researchers and conducted amongst the undergraduate students at various dental colleges of Pakistan. A pretested questionnaire was used and distributed using social media platforms. The questionnaire consisted of demographics, health status, perception related to general hygiene, understanding and learning attitudes of dental students. Knowledge scores and the attitude responses were compared with the demographics using independent t-test, one-way ANOVA and chi-square, as appropriate. Results: A total of 800 undergraduate dental students responded to the survey, out of which 304(38%) were males and 496(62%) were female students. Students in pre-clinical years were 600(75%), while 200(25%) students were in the clinical years. The knowledge of clinical students regarding COVID-19 was statistically higher (4.71/6), compared to the students in pre-clinical years (4.49/6) (p=0.004). Both groups showed adequate knowledge regarding the route of transmission, symptoms and origin of COVID-19, and COVID-19 being a threat to life. Clinical students did not want to re-use the face mask (75%), compared to the preclinical students (68%) (p-0.048). Students in clinical years reported more awareness regarding the recommended hand washing technique during COVID-19 (p-<0.001). Conclusion: It can be concluded that dental students in clinical years have adequate knowledge regarding the COVID-19 as compared to the preclinical students. The study identifies all areas where preclinical and clinical students lack basic knowledge. This should be compensated by arranging different webinars and online courses to increase the understanding of both clinical and preclinical students during the pandemic.
Highlights
On the 12th of December 2019, the novel coronavirus infection first appeared in the form of suspected cases of pneumonia of unknown origin, which was later linked to the wet animal market in Wuhan, China.[1]on the 12th of January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) transitionally named the responsible virus as the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)
The disease was later named as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-2 Coronavirus (SARS-2 coronavirus) on the 11th of February 2020.2 Due to rapid spread of the disease across country borders, the COVID-19 epidemic was officially declared a pandemic by the WHO on 11th of March 2020.2 COVID-19 pandemic has affected the clinical training at various dental schools and dental clinics across the globe, with initial restrictions limiting services to providing only emergency and urgent dental care.[3]
The knowledge related to the transmission route, symptoms & origin of COVID-19, and COVID-19 being a threat to life among clinical and preclinical students was found to be statistically satisfactory but there was no significant difference between the groups (Table 2)
Summary
On the 12th of January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) transitionally named the responsible virus as the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). Dental treatments generate large amounts of aerosols and this along with the close proximity of the dentist to the patients increases the chances of acquiring infection within the dental offices/ clinics.[6] This novel virus is found in the saliva of the infected person and is known to survive in the droplets for hours and on various surfaces for days.[7,8] the standard protective chair side measures that were initially opted as a part of daily routine practice seemed insufficient to halt the spread of the virus, especially when the patients under treatment were in their incubation period or were unaware about acquiring the infection.[4]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
