Introduction
The global pandemic of the novel coronavirus infection COVID-19 has become an unprecedented threat to all of humanity. The outbreak occurred at the end of 2019 in the Chinese city of Wuhan in the spring of 2020 and continues to cause significant social and economic damage to the entire global community (Banakar et al., 2020). Apart from it, the infection, which has spread almost all over the world, has no close analogs in recent decades (Banakar et al., 2020). A feature of the modern pandemic is, in addition, its intrusion into all processes of human life.
The virus is transmitted between people sufficiently quickly; in most cases, it occurs via close contact through small droplets formed when talking, sneezing, or coughing. They often fall on the surface or the ground rather than move long distances through the air (Banakar et al., 2020). However, the virus’s transmission can also intervene through smaller droplets, which remain suspended in the air (Banakar et al., 2020). Common symptoms include cough, fever, fatigue, loss of taste and smell, and ear congestion (Banakar et al., 2020). Apart from it, complications involve acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and pneumonia.
The most significant risk of contracting a coronavirus infection is for doctors, especially dentists and students in training. It is explained by the fact that the main chance of infection lies in the small distance between the patient and the provider when working with dental instruments and aerosols (Banakar et al., 2020). A water-air mixture under pressure provokes the appearance of a subtle aerosol flow, which in one way or another contains the patient’s saliva (Banakar et al., 2020). This flow quickly enters the specialist’s respiratory tract, bypassing the usual mask (Banakar et al., 2020). All of it determines the extremely high probability of infection and the urgent need for awareness toward COVID-19 precautions among different levels of dental students, and the significance of researching this topic.
Preliminary studies were conducted at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia. In particular, the aim of research by Al Jasser et al. (2020) was to determine how aware the dental students at King Saud University are, regarding their high exposure to the coronavirus. Moving to the materials and methods, the study included approximately 400 participants, all undergraduate and postgraduate dental students and interns of the researched university, which were specifically selected (Al Jasser et al., 2020). The researchers used a cross-sectional survey for the study and the mentioned power of the sample was 0.85 (Al Jasser et al., 2020). The study found an adequate level of awareness regarding the COVID-19; however, it discovered room for improvement for increasing students’ health state.
Aim of the Research
Awareness of COVID-19 precautions among dental students is vital to both their and the patients’ life and health. Therefore, the purpose of the research is to determine and assess awareness toward COVID-19 precautions among different dental students at University. Apart from it, this study aims to provide the dental faculties the information about the results obtained. In particular, young people surveyed will include undergraduate and postgraduate dental interns and students.
Materials and Methods
Methods include a closed-ended questionnaire, and its sending through emails to students. The target sample size will be around 250 male and female students. The results will be calculated using Kolmogorov–Smirnov, and Shapiro–Wilks tests for determining the normality of data distribution. Moreover, SPSS statistics version 21 will be applied to analyze the responses. The variables will be calculated through an additional method of using inferential statistics of the Kruskal Wallis tests and Mann–Whitney U-test. Compliance with ethics requirements includes conducting research in accordance with the 1975 Declaration of Helsinki and taking informed consent from participants.
References
Al Jasser, R., Al Sarhan, M., Al Otaibi, D., & Al Oraini, S. (2020). Awareness toward COVID-19 precautions among different levels of dental students in King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare, 13, 1317-1324. Web.
Banakar, M., Lankarani, K. B., Jafarpour, D., Moayedi, S., Banakar, M. H., & MohammadSadeghi, A. (2020). COVID-19 transmission risk and protective protocols in dentistry: a systematic review. BMC Oral Health, 20(1), 1-12. Web.
Time Flow
Research Budget
Private funds will be used for conducting research.