A Nation-wide Survey on Financial Impact of COVID-19 on Employers of Private Dental Practices of Pakistan

OBJECTIVE: To assess the financial impact of COVID-19 on employers of private dental practices of Pakistan in the month of April and May 2020. METHODOLOGY: In this cross sectional study, the employers of dental practices of Pakistan were inquired about their financial management during COVID 19 outbreak. The data was analyzed using IBM-SPSS version 23.0. Percentages and Chi-square tests were used for statistical analysis at p <0.05. RESULTS: 52.7% owners opened their practices whereas 37.8% of tenants’ clinics remained closed (p<0.01). 38.3% of tenant employers provided inadequate PPE whereas 53.2% owners provided adequate PPE to their staff (p=0.02). 64% of owners easily arranged PPE for staff whereas 70.4% tenants found it difficult to arrange PPE because of its high cost. Employers with less than 10 years of practice reported less than 5% whereas those with more than 10 years of practice reported up to 24% of revenue generation income (p<0.01). Most of the employers paid full salary to their employees. If this condition persists till the end of August, 40.8% employers (<10 years practice) planned to adjust staff salaries whereas 33% employers (>10 years of practice) planned to find innovative ways to lower their operating costs (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: Due to minimal patient turnover, dental employers are facing incredible challenges in managing the expenses. Those with more than 10 years of practice are more economically stable as compared to the employers with less than 10 years of practice. KEYWORDS: COVID-19, finances, dental clinic, Pakistan. HOW TO CITE: Sarwar H, Qureshi NR, Fatima S, Naeem MM, Inayat A. A nation-wide survey on financial impact of COVID-19 on employers of private dental practices of Pakistan. J Pak Dent Assoc 2020;29(4):172-178.