Concerns, perceived impact, and preparedness of oral healthcare workers in their working environment during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Objective The aim of the study was to evaluate the oral healthcare workers' concerns, perceived impact, and preparedness in COVID‐19 pandemic. Methods This cross‐sectional study was carried out at 10 different dental hospitals in Pakistan from March to June 2020. A 35 items valid and reliable questionnaire was used to assess the concerns, perceived impact, and preparedness of oral healthcare workers (OHCW) in COVID‐19 pandemic. Chi‐squared test and logistic regression were used for analysis. Results A total of 583 OHCW participated in this study. The odds of having the awareness about the risk of exposure and fear of getting infected, were greater in the clinical than non‐clinical OHCW (OR: 52.6; OR: 15.9). For social network concerns, the clinical OHCW were more likely to be concerned about their colleagues (OR: 6.0). The clinical OHCW have greater odds of worrying about telling the family/friends about the risk exposed to (OR: 2.55), being avoided because of the job (OR: 3.20) and more likely to be feeling stressed (OR: 4.31). Less than 50% of the participants felt that their institutions are well prepared and only 12.6% had attended an infection control training session. Most participants practiced self‐preparation such as buying masks and disinfection (94.3%, 98.3%). Conclusion The majority of OHCW felt concerned about their risk of exposure to infection and falling ill from exposure and infecting friends/family. There is a need for training of infection control and PPE and minimizing fear and psychological impact on OHCW should be the priority in any preparedness and planning for combating COVID‐19.

Dental health care providers’ concerns, perceived impact, and preparedness during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia

“…This study reports that a higher percentage of clinical DHCPs were afraid of falling ill with COVID-19 than non-clinical workers. Our finding is in line with other studies on HCWs in Singapore during the Avian Influenza outbreak and oral healthcare workers in Pakistan (Wong et al, 2008;Chaudhary et al, 2020).…”

“…A small number of DHCPs (7.4%) reported that they would look for another job. The response is consistent with other studies conducted in Singapore, the USA, and Pakistan, where most healthcare workers agreed to continue work during SARS, Avian influenza, and COVID-19 outbreak respectively (Chaudhary et al, 2020;Wong et al, 2008;Martin, 2011). In contrast, other studies reported a higher proportion of healthcare workers from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom (43%-77%) refused to work during an outbreak and preferred to look for another job or quit their job (Chaudhary et al, 2020;Wong et al, 2010;Shiao et al, 2007;Barr et al, 2008).…”

“…The first part of the questionnaire collected information regarding socio-demographic characteristics of the participants which included age, gender, marital status, place of work, and place of living. A valid and reliable questionnaire consisting of 35-items in four sections was adopted from Chaudhary et al (2020) to assess the concerns, perceived impact, and preparedness of DHCPs in the COVID-19 pandemic. The concerns related to work and social life of DHCPs were assessed in the first two sections of the adopted questionnaire and perceived impact and preparedness of DHCPs was assessed in the last two sections.…”

Psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on dental health personnel in Norway

“…Dental health personnel are thus at high risk of contagion when performing routine dental procedures, and the dental office may serve as a cross-infection location if adequate precautions are not taken. In addition, as individuals with COVID-19 may be asymptomatic for several days, they pose a risk to the dental health personnel when seeking dental treatment [ 6 ]. The role of dental professionals in preventing transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is therefore critically important [ 7 – 9 ].…”

Impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on periodontal practice: A questionnaire survey

“…In this challenging scenario, health professionals have faced drastic changes in their clinical routines, including enacting strict practices against cross‐infection, enhancing the management of minimally invasive procedures that generate less aerosols, reducing the number of patient visits (Jamal et al, 2020), and developing protocols for teleodontology services (Maret et al, 2020). Recent studies have indicated that the COVID‐19 pandemic has had not only negative economic consequences (Ali et al, 2020; Nibali et al, 2020; Schwendicke et al, 2020) but also increased the levels of fear and anxiety among the dental workforce (Ahmed et al, 2020; Chaudhary et al, 2020; Sharma et al, 2020). In this context, periodontists have been forced to adapt their clinical practice in various ways to reduce the transmission of SARS‐CoV‐2 while, at the same time, figuring out how to manage the emotional and financial impacts related to their new professional routine.…”