Awareness regarding COVID-19 among auxiliary dental staff in a tertiary dental care centre in Kerala- A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Corona virus disease officially called as COVID-19, declared a “pandemic” by the World Health Organization; became a major public health problem causing worldwide morbidity and mortality, despite various control measures. Extraordinary measures are taken universally to fight the spread of the ongoing outbreak. In such a scenario, people’s adherence to preventive measures is largely influenced by their knowledge and perception of the disease. Since dental care professionals are having high chances of infectivity, which in turn has serious implications, it is essential that the auxiliary dental staff must be educated, empowered and provided appropriate and relevant knowledge of the disease.To assess the level of awareness regarding COVID-19 among auxiliary dental staff in a Tertiary Dental Care Centre in Kerala. A cross sectional survey was conducted among all the auxillary staff in a tertiary dental care centre by an online questionnaire through google forms. Details regarding demographic data, knowledge about the spread, symptoms, diagnosis, prevention and safety practices related to COVID-19 were obtained after getting an online informed consent. Descriptive statistics and Chi square test were done. Associations and differences were considered significant when the p value was less than 0.05.The initial sample size was 50. Forty two participants completed the study. Out of the participants 36% (n=15) were below 40 years and were males. About 40.5% (n=17) had experience less than 5 years. Around 69% (n=23) of the participants had good knowledge regarding COVID 19. Statistically significant results were seen with mode of transmission of Covid 19 and age of the respondents (p value=.006);current treatment of Covid 19 and years of experience of the respondents (p value=.011).The study concluded that there is overall good awareness level among the participants of the study.