Abstract
The aim of this study is an evaluation of the Italian dentists’ knowledge regarding COVID-19 and their perception of the risks associated with COVID-19, their attitude in resuming their activities, and how they judge the institutional intervention on a health and economic basis. Methods: This research evaluated Italian dentists from 11 to 18 April 2020, using a questionnaire submitted via Google Forms (Alphabet, Mountain View, CA, USA). It consisted of different investigations about sociodemographic aspects, profession-related characteristics, knowledge about COVID-19 infection transmission modalities, symptoms, and attitude in treating potentially infected patients. Statistical analysis was performed using the Pearson chi2 test and Student t-test. The α-level was fixed at p = 0.05. All data were analyzed with STATA 16 (StataCorp LP, College Station, TX, USA). Results: 1500 dentists (664 men and 836 women) completed the questionnaire. The majority of respondents declared having been trained in infection prevention procedures (64.3%) but not specifically to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (48.7%). A total of 57.2% declared that they were not trained sufficiently to restart working after lockdown, with a significantly higher prevalence (Pearson chi2 test, p < 0.001) among women (62.3%) than men (50.9%). Conclusion: Italian dentists were informed correctly on the mode of transmission but partially missed COVID-19 symptoms. Dentists considered the virus infection highly dangerous, and they were not confident in being able to work safely. The lack of precise operating guidelines creates uncertainties on infection control measures and appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) use. The participants revealed apprehension for their health and the current and future economic situation of their practices.
Highlights
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a pandemic disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) which is spreading worldwide
The questionnaire used by the research published by Khader et al [7] was adapted to the Italian situation and submitted via Google Forms (Alphabet, Mountain View, CA, USA)
The age distribution was different between genders (Table 1; Pearson chi2 test, p < 0.001)
Summary
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a pandemic disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) which is spreading worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared it a pandemic on 11 March 2020 [1]. The prime minister declared a period of lockdown in accordance with the Italian National Institute of Health, with regional administrations trying to limit the spread of the disease, identify suspected cases, and activate quarantine measures [4,5,6]. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Dental Association (ADA), and the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended practice guidelines for dental clinicians to control the COVID-19 infection [8,9,10,11]
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