Survey on the attitudes and perceptions of Swiss dental practitioners and dental students toward treating patients with disabilities and sensory impairments.

Abstract

This study evaluated the attitudes and perceptions of private dental practitioners (PPs) and students on treating patients with disabilities and sensory impairments. A multifaceted questionnaire was used to assess the participants' attitudes on providing care to persons with disabilities and sensory impairments [visual (VI) and hearing (HI)]. The survey evaluated different aspects of the participants' attitudes that included integrity, altruism, perceived barriers, and theory of planned behavior (TPB). One hundred twenty participants [students: n=73, practitioners (PP): n=47), with a mean-age of 27.7±5.3 years, completed the survey (response rate: 100%). Fourth-year students scored better than the PP in integrity (p=.019). For altruism, the students scored better than PPs (vs. fourth-year: p=.009, vs. fifth-year: p=.031). There were no differences between the participant groups for the overall assessments of the TPB (p=.213), VI (p=.863), and HI (p=.261). Dental practitioners and students revealed a positive attitude, with few barriers, towards treating individuals with disabilities/sensory impairments and considered the training in the field of special care dentistry as a necessary part of the dental education. Furthermore, a demand for an increase in the hands-on practical experience in treating individuals with disabilities/sensory impairments during the undergraduate study curriculum was identified.