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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Eur J Dent 2020; 14(S 01): S56-S62
DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1716782
Original Article

COVID-19 Perceptional Disparity Among Dental Healthcare Personnel at King Faisal University: Applying Health Belief Model

Elwalid Fadul Nasir
1   Department of Preventive Dentistry, College of Dentistry, King Faisal University, Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
,
Ahmed Khalid Elhag
2   Department of Restorative Dentistry, College of Dentistry, King Faisal University, Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
,
Hatim Mohammed Almahdi
3   Department Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, College of Dentistry, King Faisal University, Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
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Abstract

Objectives In Saudi Arabia, more than 100, 000 cases of COVID-19 have been reported, and more than 4,000 in Al Hofuf to date. Dental healthcare personnel are at a higher risk of COVID-19 due to their exposure to saliva, blood, and aerosol/droplet during their daily practice. Their perceptions of COVID-19 drive their behaviors.

Materials and Methods A cross-sectional online survey to assess COVID-19 related perceptions and possible disparities between them.

Statistical analysis Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Science, version 23 (IBM SPSS). Descriptive analyses were performed using frequencies and percentages for categorical variables, mean and (± SD) for numerical variables. Bivariate analyses were assessed using t-test and one-way ANOVA, with a 95% confidence interval (CI).

Results With a response of 75% (150), results showed that there were perceptional disparities: students and technical staff perceived more barriers to preventive measures compared to faculties with a mean difference of (−0.145 SD ± 0.580, p = 0.802, CI −1.29 / 1.00 and −2.433, SD ± 0.94, p = 0.010), respectively. This was also shown in threat perception with a mean difference of (2.525, SE ± 0.917, CI 0.71/4.34, p = 0. 0.007). Students perceived more threat than clerks did with a mean difference of (1.281, SE ± 0.569, CI − 0.16 / 2.41, p = 0.026), while clerks perceived less threat than the technical staff with a mean difference of (−2.790, SE ± 0.860, CI −4.49 /−1.09, p = 0.001).

Conclusions There was a clear disparity in the perceptions among the different categories of participants. More emphasis on the training and preparedness of the dental healthcare personnel is required.

Keywords

COVID-19 - health belief model - perception - self-efficacy - severity


Publication History

Article published online:
08 October 2020

© 2020. European Journal of Dentistry. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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