Research Information System
Current Research in Dental Sciences, vol.33, no.2, pp.90-95, 2023 (Scopus)
Objective: Dental-hospitals are with a high risk of Covid-19-transmission. The level of knowledge of staff in these environments is important for infection control. The purpose of this survey is to measure the level of knowledge and awareness of non-healthcare-staff working in dental-hospitals about Covid-19, it’s transmission methods and the precautions to be taken. Methods: An online survey of 30 questions including multiple-choice and yes/no questions was used for two months. Volunteer survey participants were determined as security-guards, receptionists, housekeepers, and administrative-departments, with at least 50 people in each group. Answers of the collected 285 surveys were statistically analyzed using the chi-square-test at P<0.05 significance level. Results: Coughing (90.9%), sneezing (90.2%), respiratory secretions (89.9%), droplet-route (87%) and contact with hands (82.8%) were the most common responses for transmission-routes. The groups who strongly believed that the measures taken against disease transmission were sufficient were the housekeeper/cleaner-employees, while the group who least believed consisted of employees in administrative-departments (P1:0.014; P<0.05). The participants most worried about working in the hospital were in the administrative-departments who did not have face-to-face contact with the patient. The most frequent ways of obtaining information by the participants were the statements published by the Ministry of Health (86.3%) and the media (69.5%). The participants who benefited most from corporate-training were housekeepers (P1:0.001; P<0.05). Conclusion: It has been determined that the knowledge level of non-healthcare staff about Covid-19-transmission and prevention methods is at a sufficient level, but they cannot easily access up-to-date information. Accurate and up-to-date information is necessary to reduce the risk of transmission during the pandemic period, with emphasis on corporate-trainings that will be updated and repeated.