COVID-19 Myth Busters: Comparing knowledge and perceptions amongst the dental workforce at an institution in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND: Currently, world is suffering from a respiratory disease names as COVID-19. This is a novel coronavirus (n-CoV), a new strain which has not been previously identified in humans and it has spread in more than 100 locations internationally due to which it is termed as “public health emergency of international concern” (PHEIC) by the World Health Organization So far, no study done as yet to assess whether the dental workforce is aware about the facts and myths related to Covid-19 awareness. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to analyze and compare the level of awareness about the facts and myths related to COVID-19 amongst faculty, dental students and prep year students of the College of Dentistry (COD) as part of an awareness campaign. METHODS: An awareness test about COVID-19 was designed using information from the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Myth Busters Awareness webpage. The questionnaire was administrated online to faculty and students, of the College of Dentistry and preparatory year students who had applied for the admission to the dental college using a secure enterprise online assessment platform (Blackboard). The tests were administered over a period of three months from March to June 2020. A written informed consent was obtained. RESULTS: The online COVID-19 awareness test was administered to 810 participants, out of which 325 (40%) were prep year students, 429(53%%) were dental students, and 56 (7%) were faculty members. Analysis of the results showed that 86% of the Faculty were able to correctly identify the facts and the myths related to COVID-19 followed by 81% of the prep year students and 74% of the dental students. Preparatory year student’s knowledge related to COVID-19 was found to be high when compared to dental students (26.47±4.27, 23.67±6.2). Student to faculty knowledge score did not differ significantly (p = 0.808). CONCLUSION: This study reports about a successful pilot test conducted to assess the perceived knowledge about facts and myths related to corona virus amongst the dental workforce.