PB1192 - Assessment of dental surgeons' knowledge about bleeding disorders

Background: Bleeding disorders are characterized by the inability of affected individuals to form a stable clot due to injury or trauma, after medical and dental procedures, the use of medications, or even spontaneously.

Aims: To evaluate the knowledge of dental surgeons (DSs) about bleeding disorders of interest in dental practice.

Methods: A cross-sectional observational study involving 389 DSs from a Brazilian State, with active registration in the Council was conducted during the year 2021, in which the participants' level of expertise regarding bleeding disorders was assessed. Study participants answered a questionnaire (validated using the Delphi method), which contained questions related to bleeding disorders, as well as related laboratory tests and their appropriate interpretation. A score ranging from 0 to 11 was created to assess participants' knowledge, with ≥6.1 being considered reasonable/good knowledge and ≤6.0 insufficient knowledge. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed using IBM® SPSS® statistical software, with p < 0.05.

Results: Of the study participants, 65.3% were female, and 74.0% had >10 years of professional experience. Regarding bleeding disorders, the majority reported having no knowledge about some coagulopathies and thrombocytopathies, while only bleeding time (BT) and prothrombin time (PT) are requested by 77.9%, and 57.1% of DSs, respectively, before carrying out invasive procedures. According to the established score, only 38.0% of the DSs were classified as having good knowledge. However, DSs who perform invasive procedures are 6.15 times more likely to have good knowledge compared to those who do not perform invasive procedures (OR 6.15; 95% CI 3.46-10.91).

Conclusion(s): The knowledge of DSs about bleeding disorders seems unsatisfactory, which is reflected in the limited requests for related laboratory tests. This fact is worrying, as patients with such disorders require greater care during dental care. Therefore, there is an urgent need to update the training of these professionals.