Dentists’ practice and compliance with current guidelines of infective endocarditis prophylaxis- National survey study

• Ivana Šutej ^[1] ; Matej Par ^[2] ; Dragan Lepur ^[3] ; Kristina Peroš ^[1] ; Hrvoje Pintarić ^[4] ; Ivan Alajbeg ^[5] ; Lovro Vuger ^[6]
  1. [1] Assist. Prof. of Pharmacology, School of Dental Medicine, University in Zagreb, Croatia
  2. [2] Postdoctoral fellow of Endodontics and Restorative Dentistry, School of Dental Medicine, University in Zagreb, Croatia
  3. [3] Assoc. Prof. of Infectious Diseases., School of Dental Medicine, University in Zagreb, Croatia
  4. [4] Prof. of Internal Medicine, School of Dental Medicine, University in Zagreb, Croatia
  5. [5] Prof. of Oral Medicine. School of Dental Medicine, University in Zagreb, Croatia
  6. [6] Dentist at private practice, Zagreb Croatia

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• Localización: Journal of Clinical and Experimental Dentistry, ISSN-e 1989-5488, Vol. 13, Nº. 7 (July), 2021, págs. 648-652
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The objective of this study was to assess the attitude, practice, and knowledge of Croatian dentists regarding infective endocarditis (IE) prophylaxis.

    A cross-sectional, self-reporting questionnaire survey was conducted with the participation of 348 Croatian dentists. The questionnaire was designed to collect information on participants’ work experience, place of work, their attitudes related to the treatment of IE-risk patients, knowledge and adherence to IE antibiotic prophylaxis guidelines.

    Knowledge and adherence to the current guidelines decreased with the higher years of experience. Compliance with the current guidelines varied, mostly because of respondents’ insecurity regarding which guidelines to follow. AHA guidelines have been most frequently the first choice (25% participants). Surprisingly, 23% of dentists didn’t follow any of the official guidelines. The majority of participants (68%) have declared a lack of preparedness or willingness to treat the patients at risk of IE. Dentists with specialty or working at university/hospital have shown a higher level of knowledge and preparedness to treat IE-risk patients.

    The lack of knowledge of guidelines and consequent inconsistencies in IE antibiotic prophylaxis in Croatian dental practice indicates the need for urgent improvement.