The perception and cognitive aspects of dental students regarding medical emergencies and urgent situations that arise during dental care
Description
A medical emergency is defined as the sudden onset of a condition of varying origin and severity that requires immediate attention, as it could endanger the patient's life. In dentistry, such situations can arise from the administration of local anaesthetics, the use of medications, handling materials, surgical procedures or the patient's pre-existing medical conditions, to name a few. Therefore, it is essential that general dentists have the necessary knowledge to recognise and manage these events properly. This study aimed to evaluate students' perceptions and cognitive understanding of medical emergencies and urgent situations from Clinic III to Clinic VII of the Dentistry programme at the Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña (UNPHU). A structured questionnaire containing closed questions was administered to a sample of 112 students. This explored basic cognitive aspects related to frequent emergencies in the dental office, as well as the students' perception of their preparedness. The data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics, including Student's t-test and analysis of variance. Regarding the perception-related results, most students stated that they did not feel prepared to deal with a medical emergency in a clinical setting, and that a specific subject should be implemented as part of their training. Additionally, although most students recognise the importance of knowing how to deal with medical emergencies and claim to understand some basic concepts, this does not translate into adequate mastery of the subject. The cognitive aspect results showed that 75.9% of participants obtained a low score on the questionnaire, indicating poor knowledge. Only 2.7% achieved a good score. No statistically significant differences were found according to clinical level, gender or age. Taken together, these findings suggest opportunities for improvement in the students' training process, especially with regard to their approach to medical emergencies. This could be taken into account to strengthen certain aspects within the academic field.
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Steps to reproduce
The data were collected using a self-administered survey designed to assess both perception and knowledge of medical emergencies in the dental context. The instrument included closed-ended questions organized into two sections: one corresponding to cognitive aspects (25 items) and the other focused on perception (9 items), previously validated by the advisors of this research project. The sample consisted of 112 students from Clinical III to Clinical VII of the Dentistry program at the Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña (UNPHU). Students were invited to participate voluntarily, and those who accepted were given an informed consent form, explaining the objectives of the study in advance. Data collection was carried out in person at the Dr. René Puig Bentz dental clinic. The data were processed and analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) software, applying descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages, mean, standard deviation) and inferential tests (t-test, ANOVA, and Levene's test) to determine differences according to variables such as clinical level, sex, and age.
Institutions
- Universidad Nacional Pedro Henriquez Urena