Attitudes and behavior of dental students concerning infection control rules: a study with a10-year interval.
The study compared the attitudes and behavior of 4th-year dental students regarding infection control rules in 1995 and 2005. Self-administrated questionnaires were applied to 592 students at 5 different dental schools in 1995 (n=350) and in 2005 (n=242). The chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were used for statistical analysis of data. Significance level was set at p<0.05. The response rate was 90.3% in 1995 and 81.0% in 2005. There was no improvement in the use of rubber gloves (p=0.316), face masks (p=0.572) or gowns (p=0.862) between 1995 and 2005. There was a lesser frequency of the use of protective eyewear in 2005 (p<0.001). No student used the individual protection equipment correctly. There was a decrease in the sterilization of burs in 2005 when compared to 1995 (p<0.001). No student could describe the correct use of the autoclave. Disinfection and use of a dental chair barrier were done correctly by a minority of students in 1995 (2.8%) and 2005 (6.1%) (p=0.069). Most students correctly discarded perforating/cutting instruments in both years (p=0.749). The attitudes and behavior of dental students concerning infection control are worrisome. There was no improvement and, for some parameters, there was a worsening in the procedures over the time period evaluated.
Abreu
Mauro Henrique Nogueira Guimarães de
MH
Department of Community and Preventive Dentistry, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. maurohenriqueabreu@ig.com.br
Lopes-Terra
Maria Claudia
MC
Braz
Leila Fátima
LF
Rímulo
Alcione Lúcia
AL
Paiva
Saul Martins
SM
Pordeus
Isabela Almeida
IA
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004203:Disinfection / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D019552:Infection Control, Dental / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D019239:Practice Patterns, Dentists' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013335:Students, Dental / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*