Growth Stunting Prevention in Indonesia: Dentist Knowledge and Perception.

Abstract

Dentists in Indonesia as health workers have a role to play in improving the quality of life of others; thus, dentists' participation in growth stunting prevention is essential. It is also supported by the fact that growth stunting correlates with dental and oral health. Therefore, a dentist's knowledge and perception of growth stunting and its prevention affect the success of a dentist's role in the community.This study aimed to explore the knowledge and perceptions of growth stunting and its prevention in dentists in Bandung. A descriptive study was conducted on general dental practitioners and dental specialists in Bandung. The number of participants gathered were 76 general dental practitioners and 30 dental specialists, which, if added all together, are 106 dentists as the study participants. Data was collected using a knowledge-based questionnaire containing three dimensions: knowledge about nutrition, growth and development, and health behavior. In addition, a perception questionnaire contains statements categorized into four dimensions: awareness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance. The questionnaire was distributed online using Google Form. A descriptive analysis was then done on the collected data. Analysis of the findings showed that 80.19% of the participants have good knowledge of growth stunting and its prevention, 16.98% moderate, and 2.83% have poor knowledge. As for the perception category, the number of participants with positive perceptions is 53.77%, while the number of participants with negative perceptions is 46.23%. Most dentists in the city of Bandung have an excellent knowledge of growth stunting and its prevention and positively perceive growth stunting and its prevention.