Статья

COVID-19 in switzerland and liechtenstein: A cross-sectional survey among dentists’ awareness, protective measures and economic effects

T. Wolf, O. Zeyer, G. Campus,
2021

The aim of this observational cross-sectional study was to gain information on the awareness; protective measures and economic effects of dentists in Switzerland during the global COVID-19 pandemic. All dentist were members of the Swiss Dental Association SSO from all over Switzerland—including all Swiss cantons and Liechtenstein—and received a previously calibrated questionnaire as an ad hoc online version. The questionnaire was divided into four parts: personal data; precautionary measures; awareness; perception. In total, 1324 questionnaires were analyzed; the response rate was 30.59% (ntotal = 4328). Participants stated in less than 2% common symptoms/signs of COVID-19; of which only fatigue was statistically significant (p < 0.01). A small number of dentists reported a positive test (0.91%; n = 12) or having one or more symptoms (2.65%; n = 35) of COVID-19 during the pandemic; whereas only 6.71% (n = 87) of the participants reported having treated SARS-CoV-2 infected patients. High prevalence areas were only medium-large and large Swiss cantons (p < 0.01). Face filter (FFP2/FFP3) masks were used by about half of the dentists, while disposable visor was rarely used. The majority of dentists had to reduce the dental practice activity to a minimum of 0–10% (n = 923; 69.98%) due to the lockdown. This economic impact forced 1.4% (n = 18) to close their practice permanently or by the end of 2020 due to the economic situation. These results can be helpful to better prepare dental practices for future outbreaks of infection (e.g., prophylactic storage of additional protective measures), define the best strategy and organize the dental workforce. Political decision-makers should consider drastic economic effects when deciding on drastic measures such as “lockdown”, which can lead to practice closures and unemployment of dental staff after only a few weeks. This should be taken into account, especially with regard to possible financial assistance to severely impaired dental practices to maintain a high level of dental care. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

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Версии

  • 1. Version of Record от 2021-04-27

Метаданные

Об авторах
  • T. Wolf
    Department of Restorative, Preventive and Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dental Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, CH-3010, Switzerland
  • O. Zeyer
    Department of Periodontology and Operative Dentistry, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, 55131, Germany
  • G. Campus
    Swiss Dental Association SSO, Bern, CH-3000, Switzerland
Название журнала
  • International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Том
  • 17
Выпуск
  • 23
Страницы
  • 1-12
Ключевые слова
  • COVID-19; dental health; disease prevalence; economic impact; health worker; occupational exposure; respiratory disease; viral disease; Article; awareness; controlled study; coronavirus disease 2019; cross-sectional study; decision making; dental practice; dental procedure; dentist; economic aspect; epidemic; fatigue; female; health survey; health workforce; human; infection prevention; Liechtenstein; male; medical information; medical staff; nonhuman; observational study; pandemic; perception; politics; prevalence; sample size; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; social participation; structured questionnaire; Switzerland; attitude to health; epidemiology; infection control; prevention and control; questionnaire; Liechtenstein; Switzerland; SARS coronavirus; COVID-19; Cross-Sectional Studies; Dentists; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; Infection Control; Liechtenstein; Pandemics; Surveys and Questionnaires; Switzerland
Издатель
  • MDPI AG
Тип документа
  • journal article
Тип лицензии Creative Commons
  • CC
Правовой статус документа
  • Свободная лицензия
Источник
  • scopus