Hafsa Khalid Mahida, Sarwat Memon, Farheen Naz.
Perceptions of Pakistani Orthodontists in Covid-19: an Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Practices.
J Islamic Int Med Coll Jan ;18(1):42-9.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge of Pakistani orthodontists regarding Covid-19 pandemic, their attitude towards the situation and their practices in this duration. Study Design: The study design was cross-sectional. Place and Duration of Study: The study spanned over a course of one month from the 10 of March to the 10 April 2021 with the data collected at the Department of Orthodontics, Ziauddin University, Karachi, Pakistan. Materials and Methods: Online questionnaire was sent to all qualified orthodontists registered with the Pakistan Association of Orthodontists practicing in Pakistan. The question-themes were divided into three segments for knowledge, attitude and practice directed towards exploring the approach of the orthodontists. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 20. Percentages and frequencies were generated for all qualitative variables. Results: Majority of the orthodontists were aware of the mode of transmission (91.8%) and up to date. 58.3% were treating only urgent cases and emergencies. 57.4% remotely provided care based on images sent by the patients. All of them had reduced the number of patients in the clinical area at a time. In the event of staff having symptoms, their attendance was mandated based on test results. SOP-compliance increased in response to new variants. Willingness for vaccination, if the process started, was by almost two thirds of the orthodontists (86.7%).Conclusion: The Orthodontic community of Pakistan has overall shown good standing in knowledge, practice, and attitudes to meet with the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. They are aware of and follow the latest research and guidelines of regulatory authorities.

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