Awareness about Clinical Establishment Act among Dentists – A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Background: The Kerala Clinical Establishment Act (CEA) provides for registration and regulation of clinical establishments from all recognized systems of medicine in the public and private sectors. The dental profession, where most services are rendered by private practitioners is also included in this Act. It follows that dentists must stay abreast of the laws that govern the profession of dentistry. Objectives: This study aimed to assess the awareness and apprehensions about the Act among dentists in Kerala. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted using a questionnaire among 400 dentists from June 2020 to August 2020. The participants comprised dental practitioners with undergraduate/postgraduate degrees, faculties in dental colleges, and postgraduate dental students. Statistical analysis was done using Chi-square and logistic regression method. Results: A total of 78% of respondents were aware about the Act. More than half of the participants (58%) had a high awareness score regarding the Act. Low levels of apprehension were exhibited by 65% of the study participants. The determinants for awareness were significant in relation to age, gender, education level, type of practice, duration of practice, and location of practice (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study indicate the need for improved clarity of clauses in the Act associated with transparency and public access to information at Clinical Establishments. The implementation of the Act would contribute greatly to shaping a reliable health-care service for the public as the findings of this research suggest that dentists in Kerala think that mandatory registration and regular inspections as envisioned in the Act would identify and isolate the quacks in the profession.