Examining the Knowledge and attitude of students of Department of Oral & Maxillofacial surgery in Faculty of Dentistry at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences regarding needle stick in 2024-2025

Abstract

Introduction: Due to the fact that dental visits are outpatient and without knowing the patient's condition for viral diseases, it causes the dentist to be exposed to a higher risk of transmitted diseases (blood and body fluids). The purpose of this study was to investigate the knowledge and attitude of the students of surgery department of dental school in relation to needle stick. Materials and methods: In the current study, 55 general students studying in the second semester of 1402 in the surgery department were included in the study considering the entry and exit criteria. A questionnaire consisting of three sections was given to them. The first part will be demographic information (age, gender, academic semester...), the second part will be knowledge questions (16 questions) and the third part will be attitude questions (4 questions). Validity was confirmed by three professors and reliability was confirmed by test-test and Cronbach's alpha. The data obtained was analyzed by SPSS version 21 statistical analysis software. Comparison of evaluation scores based on gender was done by Mann-Whitney test of attitude scores based on chi-square. Results: The prevalence rate of needle stick among general students studying in surgery department was 40%. The average knowledge of students about needlestick was 9.62±2.53 (maximum score 16). The frequency of dentists' level of knowledge about needlestick also showed that 23.64% had poor knowledge, 58.18% had average knowledge, and 18.18% had good knowledge. There was no significant difference in students' knowledge between men and women. More than 80% of the students consider the incidence of needle stick as a serious risk for students and also agreed to treat HIV and HBV positive patients in special clinics. More than half of the students disagreed with sufficient knowledge and training regarding the occurrence of needle stick and also agreed with the timely vaccination of students due to the possibility of needle stick occurrence.