ABSTRACT

Purpose

Eye injuries account for 3–4% of all occupational injuries; however, dental practitioners are at relatively high risk of occupational ocular incidents during their practices. The study aims to assess the attitude, knowledge, and awareness towards the safety of the eye; measures undertaken for its protection and its probable variations regarding age, gender, qualification, and years of practice among dental practitioners in Saudi Arabia (SA).

Methods

In this cross-sectional study, 348 dental practitioners and dental staff from SA participated. Besides demography, information regarding their knowledge, attitude, perception towards eye safety protection, and measures followed was collected through a 28-questions structured questionnaire posted online.

Results

Among the participants, 47.4% were male, 52.6% female, and 55% dentists. The data revealed that about 47% of the dentists were following clinical safety programs in their practice, 68% were employing a very high-level eye protection measure, whereas about 40% followed these measures just before starting the procedure, yet nearly 38% of the dentists faced ocular injury. Female practitioners had the highest level of knowledge on eye safety and protection. Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis showed that the awareness of the need for eye protection and inclusion of safety-glasses for UV protection were significant independent determinants of eye-injury incidence among dental professionals.

Conclusion

This survey comprehensively profiles dental professionals’ awareness and attitude about safety measures for their eye protection in their practice. Thus, the outcome of the study may pave the way for practicing an evidence-based safety approach towards the prevention of occupational ocular incidents in SA.

中文翻译：

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通过对沙特阿拉伯牙科专业人员眼部保护安全意识的横断面评估进行综合分析

摘要

目的

眼外伤占所有职业伤害的 3-4%；然而，牙科医生在执业期间发生职业性眼部事故的风险相对较高。该研究旨在评估对眼睛安全的态度、知识和意识；为保护其所采取的措施以及沙特阿拉伯 (SA) 牙科医生在年龄、性别、资格和执业年限方面的可能差异。

方法

在这项横断面研究中，来自 SA 的 348 名牙科医生和牙医工作人员参与了研究。除了人口统计学外，还通过在线发布的 28 个问题的结构化问卷收集了有关他们的知识、态度、对眼睛安全保护的看法以及采取的措施的信息。

结果

在参与者中，男性占 47.4%，女性占 52.6%，牙医占 55%。数据显示，大约 47% 的牙医在他们的实践中遵循临床安全计划，68% 采用了非常高水平的眼睛保护措施，而大约 40% 的牙医在开始手术前就遵循了这些措施，但近 38%牙医面临眼部损伤。女性从业者对眼睛安全和保护的知识水平最高。多变量二元逻辑回归分析表明，对眼睛保护需求的认识和佩戴安全眼镜以防紫外线是牙科专业人员眼外伤发生率的重要独立决定因素。

结论

本次调查全面描述了牙科专业人士在实践中对保护眼睛的安全措施的认识和态度。因此，该研究的结果可能为实施基于证据的安全方法来预防 SA 中的职业性眼部事件铺平道路。