Background: Despite the availability of prevention guidelines and recommendations on infection control, many dental practices lack the minimum requirements for infection control.
Objective: This study aimed to assess the level of awareness, perception, and attitude regarding the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and infection control among Jordanian dentists.
Methods: The study population consisted of dentists who worked in private clinics, hospitals, and health centers in Jordan. An online questionnaire was sent to a sample of Jordanian dentists in March 2020. The questionnaire was comprised of a series of questions about dentists’ demographic characteristics; their awareness of the incubation period, the symptoms of the disease, mode of transmission of COVID-19 and infection control measures for preventing COVID-19; and their attitude toward treating patients with COVID-19.
Results: This study included a total of 368 dentists aged 22-73 years (mean 32.9 years, SD 10.6 years). A total of 112 (30.4%) dentists had completed a master or residency program in dentistry, 195 (53.0%) had received training in infection control in dentistry, and 28 (7.6%) had attended training or lectures regarding COVID-19. A total of 133 (36.1%) dentists reported that the incubation period is 1-14 days. The majority of dentists were aware of COVID-19 symptoms and ways of identifying patients at risk of having COVID-19, were able to correctly report known modes of transmission, and were aware of measures for preventing COVID-19 transmission in dental clinics. A total of 275 (74.7%) believed that it was necessary to ask patients to sit far from each other, wear masks while in the waiting room, and wash hands before getting in the dental chair to decrease disease transmission.
Conclusions: Jordanian dentists were aware of COVID-19 symptoms, mode of transmission, and infection controls and measures in dental clinics. However, dentists had limited comprehension of the extra precautionary measures that protect the dental staff and other patients from COVID-19. National and international guidelines should be sent by the regional and national dental associations to all registered dentists during a crisis, including the COVID-19 pandemic, to make sure that dentists are well informed and aware of best practices and recommended disease management approaches.

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Dentists’ Awareness, Perception, and Attitude Regarding COVID-19 and Infection Control: Cross-Sectional Study Among Jordanian Dentists

This survey assessed the symptoms/signs, protective measures, awareness, and perception levels regarding COVID-19 among dentists in Lombardy, Italy. Moreover, an analysis of the answers gathered in areas with different prevalence of the disease was carried out. All Lombardy's dentists were sent an online ad hoc questionnaire. The questionnaire was divided into four domains: personal data, precautionary measures (before patient arrival; in the waiting room; in the operating room), awareness, and perception. Three thousand five hundred ninety-nine questionnaires were analyzed. Five hundred two (14.43%) participants had suffered one or more symptoms referable to COVID-19. Thirty-one subjects were positive to the virus SARS-CoV-2 and 16 subjects developed the disease. Only a small number of dentists (n = 72, 2.00%) were confident of avoiding infection; dentists working in low COVID-19 prevalence areas were more confident than those working in the Milan area and high prevalence area (61.24%, 61.23%, and 64.29%, p < 0.01 respectively). The level of awareness was statistically significantly higher (p < 0.01) in the Milan area (71.82%) than in the other areas. This survey demonstrated that dentists in the COVID-19 highest prevalence area, albeit reported to have more symptoms/signs than the rest of the sample, were the ones who adopted several precautionary measures less frequently and were the more confident of avoiding infection.

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/11/3835/pdf

COVID-19 Outbreak in North Italy: An Overview on Dentistry. A Questionnaire Survey.

Methods of Multivariate Analysis

The practice of pharmacy, as well as pharmacy education, varies significantly throughout the world. In Jordan, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, the profession of pharmacy appears to be on the ascendance. This is demonstrated by an increase in the number of pharmacy schools and the number of pharmacy graduates from pharmacy programs. One of the reasons pharmacy is on the ascendance in these countries is government commitment to fund and support competitive, well-run pharmacy programs. In this report we describe pharmacy education in 3 Middle East countries: Jordan, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. All 3 countries offer bachelor of pharmacy (BPharm) degrees. In addition, 2 universities in Jordan and 1 in Saudi Arabia offer PharmD degree programs. The teaching methods in all 3 countries combine traditional didactic lecturing and problem-based learning. Faculties of pharmacy in all 3 countries are well staffed and offer competitive remuneration. All 3 countries have a policy of providing scholarships to local students for postgraduate training abroad. The majority of students in Jordan and Kuwait are female, while the ratio of male to female students in Saudi Arabia is even. Students’ attitudes towards learning are generally positive in all 3 countries. In Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, most pharmacy graduates work in the public sector, while in Jordan, the majority work in the private sector.

http://archive.ajpe.org/aj7001/aj700118/aj700118.pdf

SPECIAL ARTICLES Pharmacy Education in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait

Early childhood caries (ECC) is a type of dental caries in the teeth of infants and children that is represented as one of the most prevalent dental problems in this period. Various studies have reported different types of prevalence of dental caries in primary and permanent teeth in children worldwide. However, there has been no comprehensive study to summarize the results of these studies in general, so this study aimed to determine the prevalence of dental caries in primary and permanent teeth in children in different continents of the world during a systematic review and meta-analysis. In this review study, articles were extracted by searching in the national and international databases of SID, MagIran, IranMedex, IranDoc, Cochrane, Embase, ScienceDirect, Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science (ISI) between 1995 and December 2019. Random effects model was used for analysis and heterogeneity of studies was evaluated by using the I2 index. Data were analyzed by using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (Version 2) software. In this study, a total of 164 articles (81 articles on the prevalence of dental caries in primary teeth and 83 articles on the prevalence of dental caries in permanent teeth) were entered the meta-analysis. The prevalence of dental caries in primary teeth in children in the world with a sample size of 80,405 was 46.2% (95% CI: 41.6–50.8%), and the prevalence of dental caries in permanent teeth in children in the world with a sample size of 1,454,871 was 53.8% (95% CI: 50–57.5%). Regarding the heterogeneity on the basis of meta-regression analysis, there was a significant difference in the prevalence of dental caries in primary and permanent teeth in children in different continents of the world. With increasing the sample size and the year of study, dental caries in primary teeth increased and in permanent teeth decreased. The results of this study showed that the prevalence of primary and permanent dental caries in children in the world was found to be high. Therefore, appropriate strategies should be implemented to improve the aforementioned situation and to troubleshoot and monitor at all levels by providing feedback to hospitals.

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Dental caries in primary and permanent teeth in children’s worldwide, 1995 to 2019: a systematic review and meta-analysis

The pandemic of Covid-19 has shaken the world tremendously. Globally, the preventive measures are applied which meagerly enabled the health systems of various countries to fight against the pandemic as the clinical trials of vaccination and quest of effective therapeutic treatment is still in progress. Developing countries like Pakistan are also going through the difficult times amid Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, essential preventive measures are crucial to control the situation among general population. This cross-sectional study aims to investigate the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) of Pakistanis residents towards the preventive measures to fight against Covid-19 global pandemic and to explore the relationship of KAP scores related to Covid-19 with demographic characteristics of teachers and students. The complete data was retrieved from 849 respondents out of 1000 questionnaires living in three different cities of Pakistan namely Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. The convenient sampling procedure was adopted as survey was taken during the month of April and May 2020, when complete lock down was observed in Pakistan. To access the significant differences among demographic characteristics of an individual independent t-test, Chi-square test and ANOVA was applied. Canonical correlation analysis was employed to ascertain the relationship between KAP scores and demographic variables. Results showed that out of 849 respondents, 89% has good knowledge, 90% scored well in attitude and 75% of teachers and students are sound practicing in order to save themselves from Covid-19.

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Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Covid-19 among Teachers and Students of Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad

Objective To investigate parental factors that influence knowledge, use, and acceptance of fluoride varnish (FLV) application. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted during December 2021. A multistage sampling technique was used to recruit parents with children aged 3 to 6 years and residing in Eastern Saudi Arabia, excluding those working in the dental field. The questionnaire consisted of four parts: demographics, knowledge, previous experience, and acceptance of FLV and was pilot-tested and distributed online using social media. Results A total of 623 parents responded to the survey. Only 36.9% of parents had good FLV knowledge with dentists being the main source of information. Gender, educational level, family income, being in the medical field, and source of knowledge were factors that significantly (P < 0.05) influenced parental knowledge. Only 24.6% of the parents applied fluoride varnish to their children before, of whom only 29% were satisfied with the experience. Parent's FLV knowledge, view of dental visits, satisfaction with previous experience, perception of children's oral health, and willingness to reapply FLV were factors that significantly (P < 0.05) influenced FLV use. Working in the medical field, perception of dental visits, and the source of knowledge were factors that significantly (P < 0.05) influenced the parent's acceptance to apply FLV. While lack of knowledge about fluoride benefits (15%) was the main reason for parental refusal to apply FLV. Conclusions The current study highlights the lack of knowledge and application of FLV among parents. There were more factors influencing mothers' acceptance of FLV application compared to fathers. Age, educational level, working in the medical field, perception, and patterns of dental visits were some of the identified factors. Dentists played a major role in parental knowledge and FLV acceptance. In a country with high caries prevalence, preventive programs such as FLV education and application are crucial.

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Is It Mum or the Dad? Parental Factors That Influence the Use and Acceptance of Fluoride Varnish among Parents in Eastern Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND: Smoking is one of the most serious health issues among all age groups, particularly in children globally including the Gulf region. However, there are little data about the prevalence in public and private schools and determinants of smoking among adolescents in Saudi Arabia.
AIM: The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence, compare, and determine smoking habits among male children in public and private schools.
METHOD: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Dammam city, KSA. The data were collected from 866 male children studying in public and private schools. Sample was calculated through stratified random sampling. The modified “Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS)” was used to collect information.
RESULTS: The total number of children recruited was 866 (223 from private and 643 from public schools). The mean age of children studied was 14.20 ± 1.03 years in both groups. The result shows that overall 27.8% of children tried to smoke cigarette both in public and private schools. The prevalence of smoking is higher in public schools’ children than in private schools (30% vs. 21%; p = 0.005). In addition, wrong perception of comfortable feeling after smoking, easy access to cigarettes, parent’s addiction, and smoking in front of children are the determining factors.
CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the prevalence of cigarettes smoking among children exists in considerable proportion. It is higher in public schools children. The health and education authorities should take urgent steps to encounter this major health issue.

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Prevalence, Comparison, and Determinants of Smoking among Young Schoolchildren in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Objective: The current study was conducted to determine whether people will keep practicing physical distancing behavior as part of their daily lives after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Materials and Methods: A structured questionnaire was prepared online using "QuestionPro" software for surveys, and the study was conducted electronically. The questionnaire for the study had two components, the first was related to the participant's demographics, and the other was about physical distancing questions. There were 16 questions in total.
Results: Women were more fearful/careful and would want to limit socializing than men. The religious aspect is one primary reason people will be willing to avoid physical distancing. Physical distancing was more acceptable to people with higher education levels. This physical distancing trend might affect the public transportation and tourism industry.
Conclusion: This study showed that the female gender and population with higher education are willing to follow better adherence to SOPs of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keywords: Post-pandemic, physical distancing, lifestyle, behavior, Pakistan

Will physical distancing be the new perceived way of life in the post-covid-19 pandemic era?

This study aimed to measure the level of vaccine hesitancy among the Saudi population using the WHO Vaccine Hesitancy Scale (VHS). A cross-sectional study using a modified vaccine hesitancy scale (VHS) was conducted among Saudi Arabian residents between April 4 and May 24, 2021. The relationship between participants' willingness to uptake COVID-19 vaccines and their demographics, awareness of COVID-19, and health status was evaluated. The chi-square test was employed to compare categorical variables and logistic regression for the associations of demographical characteristics with acceptance of the vaccine. We received a total of 1657 completed responses. 1,126 participants (68%) were vaccinated, of which 19% were vaccinated with one dose only, and 49% were fully vaccinated (with two doses). Safety concerns and worries about side effects were higher among the hesitant group (p<0.001). 96% of the participants from the willing group were not hesitant to have the vaccine, whereas in the same group, 70% thought they had good health and the vaccine was not needed. Logistic regression analysis revealed that participants with chronic diseases had lower odds of being willing to be vaccinated (OR=0.583, p-value 0.04). The study findings suggest key factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the Saudi population and can help public health authorities plan strategies to minimize vaccine hesitancy and improve awareness about vaccine acceptance.

/pdf/covid-19-vaccine-hesitancy-in-the-saudi-arabian-population-2n5x5lbx.pdf

Faraz Ahmed Farooqi

Papers

Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Covid-19 among Teachers and Students of Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad

Is It Mum or the Dad? Parental Factors That Influence the Use and Acceptance of Fluoride Varnish among Parents in Eastern Saudi Arabia

Prevalence, Comparison, and Determinants of Smoking among Young Schoolchildren in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Will physical distancing be the new perceived way of life in the post-covid-19 pandemic era?

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the Saudi Arabian population