Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Towards COVID-19 Infection among Oral Healthcare Workers at a Tertiary Dental Hospital in Sri Lanka

Oral healthcare workers are at a higher risk of contracting COVID-19 due to the nature of their work. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 among all categories of oral healthcare workers (OHCWs) at a tertiary dental hospital i...

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Main Authors: Manori Dhanapriyanka, Prasanna Jayasekara, Manoj Jayakody, Priyanga Rajapaksha, Kanthi Manorathna, Sinnathamby Suresh
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: International Dental Educationists’ Association (IDEA) 2024-07-01
Series:Journal of Multidisciplinary Dental Research
Online Access:https://jmdr-idea.com/articles/knowledge-attitudes-and-practices-towards-covid-19-infection-among-oral-healthcare-workers-at-a-tertiary-dental-hospital-in-sri-lanka
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author Manori Dhanapriyanka
Prasanna Jayasekara
Manoj Jayakody
Priyanga Rajapaksha
Kanthi Manorathna
Sinnathamby Suresh
author_facet Manori Dhanapriyanka
Prasanna Jayasekara
Manoj Jayakody
Priyanga Rajapaksha
Kanthi Manorathna
Sinnathamby Suresh
author_sort Manori Dhanapriyanka
collection DOAJ
description Oral healthcare workers are at a higher risk of contracting COVID-19 due to the nature of their work. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 among all categories of oral healthcare workers (OHCWs) at a tertiary dental hospital in Sri Lanka. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted towards the end of COVID-19 pandemic in December 2022. A self-administered questionnaire was used as the study instrument. The knowledge, attitudes and practices were categorised as poor- <60%, moderate- 61-80%, excellent ->80% according to the score. The mean knowledge score, attitude score and practice score of OHCWs regarding COVID-19 infection was 6.7 (SD1.5), 35.5 (SD 3.7), and 13.6 (SD 2.8) respectively. Only 6.4% of the participants had excellent level of knowledge and it was significantly associated with the sex, OHCW category, and having children less than 10 years. Only 1.7% of participants exhibited excellent attitudes, and 75.5% of participants showed excellent practices. The practice score was significantly associated with sex, OHCW category, and marital status. OHCWs in a tertiary dental hospital, Sri Lanka had a moderate level of knowledge and attitude but excellent practices towards the COVID-19 infection. Continuous in-service training programs should be conducted among all OHCWs to improve the level of knowledge and attitudes as well as to maintain good practices for any future pandemic situations. Keywords Oral healthcare worker, Knowledge, Attitude, Practices, COVID-19, Sri Lanka
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institution Kabale University
issn 2277-3525
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language English
publishDate 2024-07-01
publisher International Dental Educationists’ Association (IDEA)
record_format Article
series Journal of Multidisciplinary Dental Research
spelling doaj-art-2d48a4cacc6140b8a00e6a5d64e1dacc2024-12-03T06:06:14ZengInternational Dental Educationists’ Association (IDEA)Journal of Multidisciplinary Dental Research2277-35252582-79012024-07-0110151110.38138/JMDR/v10i1.24.8Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Towards COVID-19 Infection among Oral Healthcare Workers at a Tertiary Dental Hospital in Sri LankaManori DhanapriyankaPrasanna JayasekaraManoj JayakodyPriyanga RajapakshaKanthi ManorathnaSinnathamby Suresh Oral healthcare workers are at a higher risk of contracting COVID-19 due to the nature of their work. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 among all categories of oral healthcare workers (OHCWs) at a tertiary dental hospital in Sri Lanka. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted towards the end of COVID-19 pandemic in December 2022. A self-administered questionnaire was used as the study instrument. The knowledge, attitudes and practices were categorised as poor- <60%, moderate- 61-80%, excellent ->80% according to the score. The mean knowledge score, attitude score and practice score of OHCWs regarding COVID-19 infection was 6.7 (SD1.5), 35.5 (SD 3.7), and 13.6 (SD 2.8) respectively. Only 6.4% of the participants had excellent level of knowledge and it was significantly associated with the sex, OHCW category, and having children less than 10 years. Only 1.7% of participants exhibited excellent attitudes, and 75.5% of participants showed excellent practices. The practice score was significantly associated with sex, OHCW category, and marital status. OHCWs in a tertiary dental hospital, Sri Lanka had a moderate level of knowledge and attitude but excellent practices towards the COVID-19 infection. Continuous in-service training programs should be conducted among all OHCWs to improve the level of knowledge and attitudes as well as to maintain good practices for any future pandemic situations. Keywords Oral healthcare worker, Knowledge, Attitude, Practices, COVID-19, Sri Lankahttps://jmdr-idea.com/articles/knowledge-attitudes-and-practices-towards-covid-19-infection-among-oral-healthcare-workers-at-a-tertiary-dental-hospital-in-sri-lanka
spellingShingle Manori Dhanapriyanka
Prasanna Jayasekara
Manoj Jayakody
Priyanga Rajapaksha
Kanthi Manorathna
Sinnathamby Suresh
Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Towards COVID-19 Infection among Oral Healthcare Workers at a Tertiary Dental Hospital in Sri Lanka
Journal of Multidisciplinary Dental Research
title Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Towards COVID-19 Infection among Oral Healthcare Workers at a Tertiary Dental Hospital in Sri Lanka
title_full Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Towards COVID-19 Infection among Oral Healthcare Workers at a Tertiary Dental Hospital in Sri Lanka
title_fullStr Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Towards COVID-19 Infection among Oral Healthcare Workers at a Tertiary Dental Hospital in Sri Lanka
title_full_unstemmed Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Towards COVID-19 Infection among Oral Healthcare Workers at a Tertiary Dental Hospital in Sri Lanka
title_short Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Towards COVID-19 Infection among Oral Healthcare Workers at a Tertiary Dental Hospital in Sri Lanka
title_sort knowledge attitudes and practices towards covid 19 infection among oral healthcare workers at a tertiary dental hospital in sri lanka
url https://jmdr-idea.com/articles/knowledge-attitudes-and-practices-towards-covid-19-infection-among-oral-healthcare-workers-at-a-tertiary-dental-hospital-in-sri-lanka
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