Dentist's Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Central India: A Questionnaire Based Survey

Abstract

Context: Obstructive sleep apnea is a very usual sleep disorder that frequently goes undetected. In dental training enough significance aren’t inclined to the various sleep disorders existing. Dentists take a crucial role in assessing, diagnosing, management and referring of OSA patients. Aim: To evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practice about obstructive sleep apnea among dentists in Central India. Study design: This cross-sectional study was carried out in Central India from January 2021 to June 2021 for duration of six months at Nagpur. Methodology: 185 dentists participated in the survey. A questionnaire consisting of 23 items, evaluating the knowledge, attitude, and practice with respect to nine distinct domains concerning obstructive sleep apnea and circulated through a web designed program. Good/poor remarks were given to knowledge and practice questions and favorable/unfavorable for attitude questions. Study data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics using chi square test. Results: Overall dentists were observed to have good knowledge for domains of awareness, general findings and risk factors. Good knowledge was found in MDS for domains of screening and diagnosis (64.65% and 50.51%) and treatment and referral (65.66% and 57.58%) in comparison to the BDS group. Favorable attitude for all the domains was reported while poor practice in all domains. Conclusion: Dentists had favorable attitude towards OSA but poor knowledge in certain domains about OSA which may be linked to lacked clinical experience and hurdle in their practice. They were passionate about further education on OSA.