Abstract
BackgroundCOVID-19 is an emerging respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus. There is not much evidence assessing the knowledge of dental surgeons regarding COVID-19. This study was conducted to assess the knowledge of COVID-19 among dental surgeons of Nepal.MethodsA web-based cross-sectional study was conducted among registered dental surgeons of Nepal. Ethical approval was obtained. Consent was taken, and knowledge on COVID-19 was assessed via a pre-tested structured questionnaire using Google form. The form was emailed to the participants. Descriptive analysis was performed using frequency, percentage, median and inter-quartile range. Man-Whitney test and Kruskal-Wallis tests were carried out to see the difference in knowledge score. P-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.ResultsTotal 227 dental surgeons responded to the questionnaire (male: 46.4%; female: 53.7%). Almost two-third (65.2%) of the respondents were B.D.S. (Bachelor of Dental Surgery) graduates. Only 29.1% worked in the government hospitals. 17.6% were currently involved in COVID-19 management. Of the participants, 87.7% knew about the condition of the requirement of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) but only 29.1% could correctly answer the framed question for PPE. The median knowledge score calculated was 14.0 (8.0–18.0). The bivariate analysis showed a statistically significant difference in knowledge score among the age group ≥30 years and < 30 years (p = 0.013); M.D.S. (Master of Dental Surgery) graduate and B.D.S. graduate (0.041); dental surgeons of government healthcare facilities and other healthcare facilities (p < 0.001); dental surgeons of COVID-19 centers and non-COVID-19 centers (0.002).ConclusionThe dental surgeons of Nepal have a good knowledge of COVID-19, and they can be utilized for assisting in the management of COVID-19 cases in Nepal.
Highlights
COVID-19 is an emerging respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus
P-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. This was a web-based survey conducted to assess the knowledge of COVID-19 among dental surgeons of Nepal
It was seen that only 29.1% of the dental surgeons worked in government hospitals, and more than 50% of the dental surgeons worked in a tertiary level health care facility
Summary
COVID-19 is an emerging respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus. There is not much evidence assessing the knowledge of dental surgeons regarding COVID-19. This study was conducted to assess the knowledge of COVID-19 among dental surgeons of Nepal. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an emerging respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus [1]. It was first reported to World Health Organization (WHO) country office in China from Wuhan city, China on 31 December 2019 [1]. The highly infectious disease has COVID-19 is largely spread by human-to-human transmission through droplet infection with some cases of feco-oral and direct transmission [3]. The incubation period is 2–14 days [3]. The main clinical symptoms include fever, dry cough, fatigue, myalgia and dyspnea. Sah et al BMC Infectious Diseases (2020) 20:871
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