KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE OF DENTISTS TOWARDS COVID-19 IN TWIN CITIES OF PAKISTAN: A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY

Objective: To assess the Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of dentists against Covid-19 in the dental hospitals. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted was from 1st July 2020 to 30 December 2020. An online questionnaire using Google Forms was designed to collect the data through WhatsApp groups of general and specialized dentists of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The inclusion criteria were dentists practicing in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Exclusion criteria included dentists practicing outside the vicinity of twin cities. Questionnaires were kept anonymous to maintain confidentiality of all information collected in the study. Results: A total of 250 dentists participated in this study out of whom 116 (46.4%) were male and the remaining 134 (53.6%) were Female. Majority of the participants i.e., 149 (59.6%) stated that their self-assessed COVID-19 knowledge score was 4 out of 5. 66(26.4%) participants believed their knowledge was 3 out of 5 while 35 (14%) believed their own self assessed knowledge was 5 out of 5. Most dentists 162 (64.8%) reported that only emergency patients are being treated, followed by 74 (29.6%) who reported that patient treatment frequency has been partially reduced at their workplace. Conclusion: Majority of the dentists have basic knowledge, and they showed a positive attitude regarding the global pandemic.