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| Year : 2013 | Volume
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| Issue : 2 | Page : 60-65 |
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| Knowledge of periodontal disease among group of health care professionals in Yenepoya University, Mangalore |
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H Rajesh, Vinita Boloor, Anupama Rao, Sruthy Prathap
Department of periodontics, Yenepoya dental college, Yenepoya University,Deralakatte, Mangalore, Karnataka, India
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| Date of Web Publication | 5-Jul-2014 |
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 Abstract | | |
Introduction: Health care professionals interact with patients on a daily basis. Assessing and improving the existing knowledge of periodontal awareness among health care professionals is needed. They could be a good resource to educate patients on oral health
Aims:
- To assess the existing knowledge about periodontal disease among various health care professionals.
- To identify deficit in the knowledge among these health care professionals.
Materials and Methods: This was a written questionnaire based pilot study. A total of 224 subjects (123 male & 101female subjects) were selected for the study from the Yenepoya University, Mangalore, Karnataka, India. Random sampling method was employed for case selection. The main topics included in the written questionnaire were knowledge of the definition of periodontitis, knowledge of risks associated with periodontitis, knowledge of risk factors for periodontitis and knowledge of preventive measures and treatment of periodontitis.
Results: Bonferroni Multiple Comparisons test showed that there was a statistically significant difference between mean scores and mean percentage scores when compared between dentist and other professional groups. There was no statistically significant difference between the mean scores and mean percentage scores between Medical, Physiotherapy and Nursing professionals.
Conclusion: Severe knowledge deficit was seen in risks associated with periodontitis and risk factors for periodontitis. There is a need to improve knowledge about periodontal disease in the health professionals in the Yenepoya University.Keywords: Health care professionals, knowledge, periodontitis, risk factors
How to cite this article:
Rajesh H, Boloor V, Rao A, Prathap S. Knowledge of periodontal disease among group of health care professionals in Yenepoya University, Mangalore. J Educ Ethics Dent 2013;3:60-5 |
How to cite this URL:
Rajesh H, Boloor V, Rao A, Prathap S. Knowledge of periodontal disease among group of health care professionals in Yenepoya University, Mangalore. J Educ Ethics Dent [serial online] 2013 [cited 2023 Jun 9];3:60-5. Available from: https://www.jeed.in/text.asp?2013/3/2/60/136045 |
| Introduction | |  |
Periodontal diseases are the most widespread diseases. A high prevalence of periodontitis is noted among adult regardless of sex, race, education, residence or socioeconomic status. [1] Periodontology is evolving at a rapid pace in past few decades. Periodontitis is thought to influence systemic health including Cardiovascular disease, Diabetes mellitus, preterm low birth weight and respiratory disease. [2] Health care professionals including dentists need to pay attention to periodontal disease to improve general health of the patients. Holistic approach to treat patients requires a team approach between medical and dental professionals. [3]
Health care professionals working in Yenepoya University interact with several patients each day.Health education plays an important role in prevention of periodontal disease. Well informed health care professionals can be an important source to educate their patients and act as role models in the society. Assessing and improving the existing knowledge about periodontal disease and its systemic ramifications among health care professionals will be beneficial to the society. [4] The literature assessing the knowledge about periodontitis among healthcare professionals in Mangalore city is sparse. Hence, this study was conducted to assess the existing knowledge about periodontal disease among various health care professionals and to identify deficit in the knowledge among these health care professionals.
| Materials and Methods | | |
Overall methods and questionnaire
This was a written questionnaire based pilot study. A total of 224 subjects were selected for the study from the Yenepoya University (123 male & 101female subjects), Mangalore, Karnataka, India. Random sampling method (coin toss method) was employed for case selection. Clearance from Institutional ethical committee for the study was taken. Informed consent was taken from the subjects participating in the study. The main topics included in the written questionnaire were knowledge of the definition of periodontitis, knowledge of risks associated with periodontitis, knowledge of risk factors for periodontitis and knowledge of preventive measures and treatment of periodontitis. [5] The Written questionnaire consisted of 32 questions with multiple choice answers. It was divided into four quarters with eight questions in each quarter.1 st quarter consisted of questions on knowledge of definition of periodontitis, 2 nd quarter-knowledge of risks associated with periodontitis, 3 rd quarter-knowledge of risk factors for periodontitis and 4 th quarter-knowledge of preventive measures and treatment of periodontitis. Only one correct answer was present and score given was +1. Knowledge of the subjects was reflected by their ability to select correct answer from the number of distractors. Clarity and comprehensibility of questions were tested in a student sample prior to the study. [6] The subjects participating in the study were divided into Dental, Medical, Physiotherapy and Nursing professionals based on their qualification.
| Results | | |
SPSS 15.0 is used for all statistical analyses. One way ANOVA was used to find whether the mean scores differed significantly between the four health professionals. P < .05 is considered to be significant. Chi-square test was used to find significance difference between health professional in various age groups for men and women.
Knowledge of definition of periodontitis by the health professionals:
In the first quarter assessment of knowledge of the definition of periodontitis was done. Out of eight questions asked medical professionals achieved an average score of 5.92 ± 1.510, dentists other than Periodontists had an average score of 7.81 ± 0.459, nursing professionals scored 6.20 ± 1.370 and Physiotherapy professionals scored 5.41 ± 2.235. F-value was 32.91 and P-value was 0.001(highly significant) [Table 1]. | Table 1: Knowledge of definition of periodontitis among the health professionals
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Knowledge of risks associated with periodontitis by the health professionals:
In the second quarter assessment of knowledge of the risks associated with periodontitis was done. Out of eight questions asked medical professionals achieved an average score of 5.92 ± 1.510, dentists other than Periodontists had an average score of 7.81 ± 0.459, nursing professionals scored 6.20 ± 1.370 and Physiotherapy professionals scored 5.41 ± 2.235. F-value was 15.64 and P-value was 0.001(highly significant) [Table 2]. | Table 2: Knowledge of risks associated with periodontitis by the health professionals
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Knowledge of risk factors associated with periodontitis by the health professionals:
In the third quarter assessment of knowledge of the risks associated with periodontitis was done. Out of eight questions asked medical professionals achieved an average score of 5.04 ± 1.795, dentists other than Periodontists had an average score of 7.36 ± 0.804, nursing professionals scored 5.04 ± 1.795 and Physiotherapy professionals scored 4.60 ± 1.525. F-value was 47.52 and P-value was 0.001(highly significant) [Table 3]. | Table 3: Knowledge of risk factors associated with periodontitis by the health professionals
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Knowledge of preventive measures and treatment of periodontitis:
In the fourth quarter assessment of knowledge of the risks associated with periodontitis was done. Out of nine questions asked medical professionals achieved an average score of 5.88 ± 2.309, dentists other than Periodontists had an average score of 7.62 ± 0.789, nursing professionals scored 6.56 ± 1.312 and Physiotherapy professionals scored 5.50 ± 2.418. F value was 17.57 and P-value was 0.001(highly significant) [Table 4]. | Table 4: Knowledge of preventive measures and treatment of periodontitis
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One way ANOVA was used to find whether the mean scores differed significantly between the four health professionals. There was highly significant difference in the mean scores between the health professionals showing a knowledge deficit in all other groups except the dentists [Table 5] and [Graph 1]. Bonferroni Multiple Comparisons test showed that there was a statistically significant difference between mean scores and mean percentage scores when compared between dentist and other professional groups [Table 6] and [Graph 2]. There was no statistically significant difference between the mean scores and mean percentage scores between Medical, Physiotherapy and Nursing professionals. | Table 5: One way ANOVA to find the mean scores difference among health professionals
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[Additional file 1][Additional file 2]
| Discussion | | |
Interdisciplinary approach has become the patient management strategy in recent decades. This approach requires close cooperation between doctors and dentists. A team of well informed healthcare professionals and dentists can benefit the society. Healthcare professionals can act as good source of knowledge providers to the general public. Improving periodontal knowledge can play an important role in the prevention of periodontal diseases. [7] Rapid growth in information technology have placed a significant burden on the public to acquire relevant information. Poor literacy skills can affect public's ability to seek further health information and make informed healthcare decisions. Health professionals form a key link in the dissemination of relevant knowledge to the general public. In this scenario we felt the need to assess the existing knowledge of the health care providers and improve their knowledge if there is deficit.
The methodical strength of the study was the novelty in the aim of the study within the Yenepoya University and a diverse study population. The weakness of the study was lack of a standard questionnaire and possible bias in that it may not represent the general population. T he main drawback of the questionnaire study in our settings was that not all individual were forthcoming to participate in the study. The fear of being judged may be one of the reasons. We included only those who agreed to participate.
According to study by Deinzer et al, [8] percentage knowledge below 80% in their questionnaire was considered as knowledge deficit. We used a similar criterion in the present study to assess the knowledge deficit among various health care professionals and any value above 80% was considered to be sufficient.
In the present study, while assessing the definition of periodontitis we found that the knowledge level was poor among nurses and physiotherapists. Medical doctors showed better knowledge compared to them. Dentists other than periodontists showed good knowledge. In the second quarter, we assessed the knowledge of risks associated with periodontitis by the health professionals. Doctors and physiotherapists showed knowledge deficit. In the third quarter we assessed the knowledge of risk factors associated with periodontitis by the health professionals, the results were similar to the definition of periodontitis. In the fourth quarter, we assessed the knowledge of preventive measures and treatment of periodontitis the knowledge deficit was found in the doctors, nurses and physiotherapists.
In the present study we found statistically significant knowledge deficits among medical, physiotherapy and nursing professionals throughout all the topics examined. The most severe deficits were found in the knowledge of risks associated with periodontitis and risk factors for periodontitis. The trend seen in this study implies that there is a need to update the healthcare workers on a regular basis. This can be probably reduced by planning regular interactive session between periodontists and other health care professionals. This in turn will translate into better understanding of the periodontal disease and improved compliance with the oral health behavior from the general public. This study shows that education on the recent advances in the relationship between periodontal disease and general health is the need of the hour. [9] This kind of team work could lead to a holistic approach to the treatment of diseased individuals.
El-Qaderi et al[10] reported that in Jordan dental services are hampered by the shortage of resources and facilities. We have similar problems in our country as that reported by El-Qaderi et al. Rapid increase in the population has put a strain on dental services rendered. A national health policy which focuses on prevention of periodontal disease is needed to handle the increasing burden of periodontal disease. Education and improvement of knowledge of allied health education personnel can reduce the cost and improve the dissemination of general public. This in turn will improve the quality of care rendered to the periodontitis patients.
| Conclusion | | |
This study shows that knowledge deficit was seen in all topics investigated in the given population. Severe knowledge deficit was seen in risks associated with periodontitis and risk factors for periodontitis. This study points out the need to transcend the personal barriers and improve communication and education among all the health professionals. This approach will benefit the profession and the whole society .This study should be continued further with a larger sample size. Reassessment of the knowledge level should be done after educating respective groups.
| Acknowledgements | | |
We would like to acknowledge Dr. A. Shashikanth Hegde, Senior Professor & Head, Dr. Rajesh KS, Professor and Dr.Arunkumar MS for their constant guidance and support during the study.
| References | | |
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Correspondence Address:
H Rajesh
Department of Periodontics, Yenepoya Dental College, Yenepoya University, Deralakatte, Mangalore - 575 018, Karnataka
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0974-7761.136045
[Table 1], [Table 2], [Table 3], [Table 4], [Table 5], [Table 6] |
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