Knowledge and Attitude of Dental Practitioners about Professional Indemnity Insurance in Davangere District: A Cross Sectional Survey

Abstract

Background: It is essential that dentists should have an adequate knowledge of professional Indemnity insurance to safeguard themselves. Aim: To assess the knowledge and attitude of dental practitioners about professional indemnity insurance (PII) in Davangere district. Materials and methods: A descriptive cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted involving data collection from 101 dental practitioners in Davangere district at their respective clinics using a pretested, validated, investigator‑administered closed‑ended 10 items questionnaire. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 21 (IBM Corp., Armonk, N.Y., USA) was used for statistical analysis. Descriptive statistics were generated in terms of percentages and chi square test was used to compare the responses across groups. Results: The mean age of participants was 41.4±8.1 years. Majority of the participants were females (51.5%) and qualified with a masters degree (70.3%). Majority did not have a professional indemnity insurance (PII) (69.3%) as they were unaware of it (51.5%). Many (56.4%) were informed about PII by their professional colleagues. Around 51.5% felt that it was not mandatory to have a PII. Around 83.2% maintained patient records and around 76.2% paid compensation to their patients for negligent dental practice. Conclusion: Majority of dental practioners in Davanagere district did not have Professional Indemnity Insurance as many were unaware about it.