Knowledge, Attitude and Oral Hygiene Practices among Medical Practitioners in Delta State, Nigeria ()
ABSTRACT
Background: The knowledge of good oral hygiene is of paramount importance for the technical
knowhow to keep one’s mouth clean and free from periodontal diseases. Thus,
one’s attitude towards oral hygiene directly affects the oral health status. Aims: The study aimed at evaluating the knowledge, attitude and oral hygiene
practices among medical practitioners in Delta State, Nigeria. The research
also aimed at determining the effect of sex on knowledge, attitude and oral
hygiene practices. Methodology: This study was an observational cross
sectional study. Purposive sampling technique was employed. A total of a
hundred and twenty-three health care providers were assessed with a structured
questionnaire. Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics and Research
Committee in the Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Biology, Delta State
University, Abraka, Nigeria. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 18.0 package.
Descriptive statistics was analyzed using simple frequency percentages
distribution and association between categorical variables and sex was done
using a chi-square test. Significance was accepted at p < 0.05. Result: Findings from the study present 76.0% males and 24.0% females in the studied
population. Five categories of health care providers were assessed, 63.0% of
respondents were medical officers, 21.0% were consultants, and 10.0% were
residents, while 6.0% were house officers. The results showed that 43.9% of the
participants brushed their teeth once daily, 54.5%
twice daily while 1.6% thrice daily. Respondents were asked the last time they
visited a dentist. Out of the 123 participants, 37.4% never visited, 20.3%
claimed six months ago, 13.0% visited a year ago, 10.6% two years ago and
19.40% visited more than two years ago. It also shows percentage distribution
of variant types of last treatment, 19.5% had extraction, 10.6% had filling,
and 33.3% had scaling and polishing while 36.6% had other types of dental treatment. The study revealed that the majority of the respondents (93.5%) had
a positive attitude towards oral health. A total of 91.9% of the participants
had knowledge of oral hygiene, while 8.1% had no idea of oral hygiene. More
than half of the respondent (57.2%) agreed and strongly agreed that oral
hygiene knowledge in medical schools was adequate while 35.0% disagreed and
strongly disagreed. There was no significant association (p > 0.05) between
frequency of daily teeth brushing, last dental visit, variant treatments and
sex. Conclusion: Findings from this study showed that the majority of the participants had an adequate knowledge on proper oral
hygiene care and they had a positive attitude towards oral health. Being health
care providers, the adequate knowledge and positive attitude could have a positive impact on
the patients.