Knowledge About COVID-19 and Perception of Health Safety Among Mexican Dental Students

• Published in: Odovtos Vol. 25; no. 1; pp. 371 - 379
• Main Authors: Olivares-Colorado, Jennifer, Carretero-Rodríguez, Mónica, Ruíz-Torres, Patricia, Ceballos-Santos, Ana F., Blanco-Zapata, Tania J., Rojas-Mauro, Ramón, Galindo-Reyes, Edith L., Suárez-Franco, José L., Cerda Cristerna, Bernardino I.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Portuguese
• Published: San Jose Universidad de Costa Rica, Facultad de Odontologia 01.04.2023; Facultad de Odontología. Universidad de Costa Rica
• Subjects: Aerosols; Conocimiento; COVID; COVID-19; Cross; Dental schools; Dental students; Dentistry; Dentists; Disease transmission; Estudiantes de odontología; Estudio transversal; Information sources; Knowledge; Learning; Likert scale; Mann-Whitney U test; Medicine, Research & Experimental; Percepción; Perception; Perceptions; Questionnaires; Safety; sectional study; Shelter in place; Social networks; Software; Statistical analysis; Students; COVID-19; Dental students; Estudiantes de odontología; Estudio transversal; Percepción; Perception; Cross-sectional study; Knowledge; Conocimiento
• ISSN: 1659-1046; 2215-3411; 2215-3411
• DOI: 10.15517/ijds.2022.51244

This study aimed: 1) to investigate sources of information used by students to learn about COVID-19, 2) to investigate levels of knowledge about COVID-19 and about conditions for the treatment of patients during the COVID-19 lockdown, and 3) to evaluate students’ perceptions of safety regarding their return to in-person activities at the School of Dentistry. Dental students answered a questionnaire (29 items; n=371) that explored the aims of the study, based on a Likert scale (Cronbach’s alpha, 0.778). Data were tested with the Mann-Whitney U test and Kendall’s Tau-c. Dental students received information about COVID-19 from the Mexican Health Ministry as their first source (45.28%). Students had good knowledge about the main characteristics of COVID-19, and 59.3% of students had excellent knowledge about the factors relevant to dental treatment of patients. Half of the students said they felt safe regarding a possible return to in-person activities at the dental school, while the other half did not. Statistically significant differences were noted between the students’ scholar year and their level of knowledge (P<0.001) and between their perception of safety (very unsafe, unsafe, safe, and very safe) and scholar year (P=0.000). Dental students had good knowledge about COVID-19 and about the dental care for patients during the lockdown. Half of the dental students felt unsafe about a possible return to in-person school activities.