Background
Patient
safety is an integral part of all health care specialties, including
dentistry. Dental students are exposed to patient safety culture during their
clinical training. The aim of this study was to evaluate the perception of
female students enrolled in dental degrees and dental hygiene programs
towards patient safety culture and to determine its associated factors at a
Middle Eastern setting.
Methods
This
is a cross sectional study, based on a self-administered, English language
questionnaire distributed by convenience among female dental students
enrolled in two major Colleges of dentistry in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Participants had fulfilled at least one year of clinical training. Sample
characteristics included the specialty and years of clinical training.
Student’s perception was measured using the validated Safety Attitude
Questionnaire (SAQ) that consists of 36 statements, distributed over six
domains. Responses were rated on a five point Likert scale and the average
positive response rate (APRR) was calculated. Binary logistic regression
models were constructed to determine factors significantly associated with
positive perceptions.
Results
The
response rate of both student programs was 221/312(70.8%). Students of dental
sciences and dental hygiene programs were 133(60.2%) and 88(39.8%)
respectively. Almost 42% of students were in their 1st and 2nd years of
clinical training. The APRR of: Team Work Climate domain was 54.4 ± 28.0,
Safety Climate domain was 51.4 ± 29.7, Job Satisfaction domain was
64.5 ± 33.8, Stress Recognition domain was 56.2 ± 37.8, Perceived Management
Support domain was 50.7 ± 37.7, and Working conditions was 55.3 ± 32.1. Female
students in their 3rd and 4th year of clinical were adj.OR = 2.3[1.3–4.0]
times more likely to have positive perception regarding the team work climate
domain when compared to 1st and 2nd year clinical students, P = 0.005. At
each of the six individual domains, the odds of having a positive perception
were also significantly higher among dentistry students in comparison to
dental hygiene students with a range of adj.OR 2.6–4.6.
Conclusions
Apparently
patient safety is a concern among female dental students enrolled in dental
degree and dental hygiene programs. This requires more attention from the
staff, dental college’s leadership/management, and faculty/students.
Perception of dental students towards patient safety culture is expected to
improve with the increase of clinical training.
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