Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Iranian Dental Students Regarding Standard Hand Washing Technique: an Interventional Study

Background and purpose: Hand contamination is an important factor of infection transmission from dental staff to patients and vice versa. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of hand washing training on dental students’ knowledge, attitude, and clinical practice at the Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences Dental School in 2010.Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 100 volunteers studying in the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 11th semesters in the Shahid Beheshti Dental School. A standardized questionnaire was used after confirmation of its content validity and reliability as the study tool. All students were assessed twice: once before (pretest) and once after the training (post-test) of hand washing techniques. The scores of pretest and post-test were compared and analyzed by paired T test and by repeated measured analysis of variance test (RMA) by means of SPSS-15 program.Results: A total of 100 students (38 boys and 62 girls) participated in this study. The difference between the mean scores of dental students’ knowledge before (13.73±2.76) and after training (19.64±2.53) was found to be significant (p<0.001). With regard to their attitudes, the mean scores related to before (25.21±2.31) and after training (26.63±2.08) were significantly different (p<0.001). Meanwhile, the participants showed significantly improved hand washing technique after training (p<0.001). RMA scores showed no significant difference between the male and female students in terms of their knowledge and attitudes, although the clinical practice of boys was better than that of girls (p=0.017). However, the academic grades of the students (semesters) had no effect on their attitude, knowledge, and hand washing techniques.Conclusions: Training about hand washing techniques can improve the knowledge, attitude, and clinical practices of dental students, regardless of their grade.