Infection Prevention and Control in Dental Workplace: A Cross-sectional Study on the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Dental Auxiliaries Working at Tertiary Hospitals in Gusau, Zamfara State, Nigeria

Abstract Background: Dental healthcare workers are at a very high risk of getting exposed to various forms of infection such as hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus, human immunodeficiency virus, SARS-COV-2 virus and many other viral and bacterial diseases. This is as a result of the nature of the working environment and close proximity to patients required to gain access to the oral cavity during treatment. In addition, the high risk of getting infected is increased due to frequent handling of sharp instruments and rotary devices which generates aerosols. Dental auxiliaries are saddled with the responsibility of assisting dental surgeons including sterilisation instruments and disinfection of the working environment. The aim of this research is to determine the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of dental auxiliaries regarding infection prevention and control in dental workplace in tertiary hospitals in Gusau. Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive and cross-sectional study amongst dental auxiliaries working in the Federal Medical Centre Gusau and Ahmad Sani Yariman Bakura Specialist Hospital Gusau from September 2024 to October 2024. Dental surgery technicians/assistants, dental therapists and dental technologists using a convenient sampling method were included in the study. Data were obtained using a self-administered, structured questionnaire and analysed using the SPSS software version 25.0 (IBM, Armonk Inc., New York, USA). Results: There were 55 (61.8%) male and 34 (38.2%) female respondents, with a mean age ± standard deviation of 26.3 ± 5.5 and majority, i.e., 87 (97.8%) were Hausas in ethnicity. More than half, i.e., 53 (59.6%) of the respondents were employees of the Federal Medical Centre, Gusau. The overall knowledge about infection prevention and control in the study participants was poor (49.2%), while the attitude was good (81.3%) but the practice was fair (68.6%). There is no statistically significant difference in terms of KAP based on the hospital of employment or years of experience ( P > 0.05). However, there is a statistically significant difference in terms of some knowledge domains between different cadres ( P = 0.001 and 0.003). Conclusion: The knowledge about infection prevention and control was poor amongst the dental auxiliaries in this study and the good attitude observed does not translate to having good practice.