Effect of an Educational Intervention on Infection Control Clinical Practices in a Dental School Environment

Abstract

Introduction: Infection control compliance in dental schools has been reported as less than ideal and requires improvement. The goal of our study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a centralized educational strategy that used multimedia to improve subject understanding and compliance with infection control guidelines and practices.Materials and Methods: The training strategy was created to show clinical scenarios and to outline all information relevant to using proper infection control and safety procedures. Pre- and post-intervention observation scores were collected for 59 students, with the scores being used to assess proper use or handling of barriers, personal protective equipment, sharps, handwashing, and disinfection. Scores were summed to form a Total score that was assessed with the non-parametric Wilcoxon-test for paired samples.Results: For Total scores, 24 of the 59 students (41%) had higher post-video scores whereas only 14 students (24%) had higher pre-intervention scores (P = 0.04).Discussion: This study revealed overall improvements in the infection control practices after an educational intervention, especially for personal protective equipment with 15 positive differences and 6 negative differences, and hand washing scores with 26 positive differences and 16 negative differences.Conclusions: We consider the higher post-training scores to be clinically important and indicate that didactic intervention is effective in improving IC practices in the school clinic.