Dental health care workers’ knowledge and practices regarding infection control measures

Abstract

Background: One of the major issues facing the global health care system is infection. To stop the transmission of infections, dental healthcare professionals should be knowledgeable about and follow infection control procedures. Aim of the study: Was to assess dental health care workers’ knowledge and practices regarding infection control measures. Research design: Descriptive research design was used in carrying out this study. Setting: This study was conducted at Dental Clinics in Taif university hospital Saudi Arabia. Sample: Convenient sample of all dental health care workers was used in this study. The total sample size was 100 dental health care workers. Tools of data collection: Two tools were used; I: An interviewing questionnaire which contained two parts. A) Personal characteristics of dental health care workers, B) dental health care workers’s knowledge regarding infection control measures. II: Observational checklist sheet which contained two parts. A) dental health care workers’s practices regarding infection control measures B) dental health care workers working environment. Results: 50,0% of the studied dental health care workers aged from 30 to less than 40 years with mean age were 32.70 ± 6.607 ;70,0% of them occupied as nurses, 50,0% of them had less than 5 years' experience, 9,0% of them were exposed to Virus B in previous years, and 60,0% of them were taken vaccinations against Virus B. 77,0 % of the studied dental health care workers had good knowledge level regarding infection control measures and 82,0% of the studied nurses had satisfactory total practices regarding infection control measures Conclusion: There were no statistically significant relations between total dental health care workers’ knowledge level regarding infection control measures and their age and educational level, there were high statistically significant relation between total dental health care workers' practices regarding infection control measures and their age, there were a highly positive correlation between total dental health care workers' knowledge and total practices regarding infection control measures. Recommendations: Developing a system for periodical dental health care workers’ evaluation to determine strategies for upgrading their knowledge and enhancing their practices, and further studies are needed in this field to assess dental health care workers’ knowledge and practices regarding infection control measures to minimize exposure to hazards.