Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnea is a relatively common sleep disorder, which leads to multiple sleep arousal and hypoxemia. It also has a significant socioeconomic impact. Dentists can have a role in screening as well as treating apnea by orthodontic devices. No study has evaluated the knowledge and attitude of dental health professionals about obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in Iran. We aimed to measure knowledge and attitude among students and faculty members of Shahid Beheshti Dental School, Tehran, Iran about OSA.
Materials and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey among residents and professors in oral and maxillofacial surgery, orthodontics, and oral medicine specialties and dental students. The Obstructive Sleep Apnea Knowledge and Attitude (OSAKA) questionnaire was used to obtain the information regarding knowledge and attitude. We used Chi-square, Kruskall Wallis, Mann-Whitney U test for statistical analysis. The data were analyzed by SPSS 22.0 and a p-value lower than 0.05 considered to be significant.
Results: One hundred ninety-seven participants, including 43 dental students, 68 dental residents, and 64 dental professors filled the survey. Mean knowledge score among all participants was 10.69 (SD=3.133). Overall, oral medicine and oral and maxillofacial surgery professors had significantly higher correct answer ratios in the knowledge section than fifth and sixth-year dental students (p<0.001). There was no significant difference among other groups (p>0.05). About attitude, 91% of respondents reported that OSA is an important or extremely important disorder. However, only 10.2% and 16.9% felt confident about the ability to manage patients with OSA and identifying patients at risk for OSA, respectively.
Conclusion: All of the participants had poor knowledge but a positive attitude towards OSA. This shows the necessity of better education about OSA.
An assessment of the knowledge and attitudes of medical students about obstructive sleep apnea syndrome via obstructive sleep apnea knowledge and attitudes questionnaire