Dentist Related Factors Associated with Implementation of COVID-19 Protective Measures: A National Survey

Joana Christina Carvalho, Dominique Declerck, Wolfgang Jacquet and Peter Bottenberg
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Joana Christina Carvalho: Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, UCLouvain, 1200 Brussels, Belgium
Dominique Declerck: Department of Oral Health Sciences, Population Studies in Oral Health, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
Wolfgang Jacquet: Oral Health Research Cluster, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, VUB, 1090 Brussels, Belgium
Peter Bottenberg: Oral Health Research Cluster, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, VUB, 1090 Brussels, Belgium

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 16, 1-11

Abstract: Little is known about the extent to which dentists have implemented COVID-19 infection control guidelines and the factors influencing this process in daily practice. This national online survey assessed the implementation of enhanced infection control guidelines in daily practice, and explored dentist related factors influencing their application, more specifically dentist infection status and their perceived risk of cross-infection in the dental setting. The survey was validated, pretested and carried out in 2020. A total of 1436 dentists participated, of whom 9.1% presumably had COVID-19 infection experience. At least 75% of dentists complied with the core part of the recommended protective measures protocol. For each patient treated during the pandemic, an additional cost of 10–30 EUR (86.7%) and an extra time of 10–30 min (70.7%) was estimated. A stepwise binary logistic regression analysis revealed that dentists assumed to have experienced COVID-19 reported a higher self-perceived risk of virus acquisition (? = 2.090; p = 0.011), lower concern of getting infected (? = 0.576; p = 0.027), and lower confidence in being able to prevent disease transmission in the dental setting (? = 0.535; p = 0.022). Some parts of the protective measures were more difficult to apply than others; however, there was no indication of increased disease acquisition in the dental setting.

Keywords: corona virus; COVID-19; severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus type 2; online survey; dental care; infection control; dentists (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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