ISSN 2756-3421
African Journal of Dentistry ISSN: 2167-0405 Vol. 3 (1), pp. 032-035, January, 2015. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Awareness and prevalence of career associated medical conditions in Dentistry among practitioners in Ghana
Akua B Konadu1*, Merley A. Newman- Nartey2, Kwabena G. Amoah3 and Tom A. Ndanu4
1Department of Restorative Dentistry, Box KB-460, University of Ghana Dental School, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana.
2Department of Orthodontics/Pedodontics, Ghana.
3Department of Oral Biology, Ghana.
4Department of Biostatistics and Community Dentistry, Ghana.
E-mail: [email protected]
Accepted 1st September, 2014
Abstract
The aim of this study was to assess the awareness and prevalence of career-associated medical conditions among Dental Surgeons, Dental Hygienists and Final year students at the University of Ghana Dental School. 55 volunteers were randomly selected for this study. They included 26 Dental Surgeons, Five (5) Dental Hygienists/Therapists and 20 final year dental student. A self-administered questionnaire was used to capture the data which was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16. The age of the respondents ranged between twenty and sixty-six years. There was a high level of awareness (>90%) of the major career associated medical conditions. Human Immunosuppression Viral infection (HIV) was the commonest occupational medical condition known. Over 40.0% of the total respondents had had needle stick injury before and17.6% within the past 6 months. Sixty-five (65%) percent of the respondents had attended a workshop on the prevention of occupational hazards, while 75% of the respondents had no knowledge on the institutional policy on waste management. Although there was a high level of awareness of career associated medical conditions; the prevalence was still high which is indicative of poor practice and behavior towards preventive measures.
Key words: Career, dentistry, Medical condition, Occupational hazards, Personal protective equipment (PPE), burnout.