Evaluation of the knowledge, attitude, and practice of patients visiting Zanjan dental school about oral and dental hygiene in 2021

Abstract

Introduction: Oral health is one of the most important components of health and has a great impact on the quality of life. One of the strategies to promote oral health is to increase knowledge, attitude, and practice among people in the community. The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice of oral health in patients referred to Zanjan Dental School. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 196 patients referred to Zanjan Dental School and their knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding oral health were assessed using a valid and reliable questionnaire. After the necessary time to answer the questions, the questionnaires were collected and the obtained data were entered into the statistical software SPSS version 22. T-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation were used to determine the effect of gender, level of education, and age on patients’ knowledge, attitude and practice, respectively. Sig- nificance level was also considered 0.05. Results: The mean age of patients was 32.52±12.81 years and 97 patients (49.5%) were male. The mean and standard deviation of the knowledge score was 3.27±1.31 (moderate). This rate was 19.23±2.63 for attitude (good) and 3.25±1.38 (moderate) for performance. Patients’ knowledge and practice were significantly higher in females (P=0.020 and P=0.009, respectively). Also, patients with university education provided higher knowledge, attitudes, and practice (P<0.001). Patients’ age also had a significant but inverse relationship with knowledge, attitude, and practice (P<0.001). Conclusion: The knowledge and practice of patients referred to Zanjan Dental School was moderate; although their attitude was at a good level. In order to increase patients’ knowledge and practice, there is a need to provide solutions such as educational programs to different parts of society.