Knowledge, attitude and practice of biomedical waste management among undergraduate dental students of a private dental institution in Chennai

Abstract

To assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of biomedical waste management among undergraduate dental students of a private teaching hospital in Chennai. Biomedical wastes are all wastes that are being generated during diagnosis, treatment or immunisation of human beings in the testing of biologicals and it's contaminated with human fluids. The waste generated by the healthcare workers during the treatment of patients is the most dangerous of all wastes and has a higher potential for infection and injury. This was an online questionnaire-based study, conducted on an online survey platform in April. The questionnaire was circulated among the Undergraduate dental students (third and fourth years and interns) of Saveetha dental college and hospitals, Chennai. The responses were collected and tabulated using the excel sheet and were exported to the SPSS software by IBM for statistical analysis. Among the interns, 85% had good knowledge and practice of biomedical waste management. 85% had a positive attitude towards the management of BMW. Amongst the final years, 80% had good knowledge, only 65% had a positive attitude and only 18% of the final years practice good BMW management. In the third year, 50% had good knowledge, 58% had a positive attitude and 58% had a good practice of biomedical waste management. The interns had good knowledge, a more positive attitude and good practice of biomedical waste management compared to the third and final years.