Introduction: Bleeding disorders and their complications are considered a significant health hazard worldwide. Research reports on the awareness of dental professionals regarding bleeding disorders were few and the researcher could not obtain any from Egypt.
Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitudes and reported practices of Ministry of Health (MOH) dentists regarding bleeding disorders and their management.
Materials and methods: This was an analytical, cross sectional study that was carried out in Alexandria during a period of 6 months from August 2018 to January 2019. The participants were asked to complete a comprehensive, close-ended self- administered questionnaire regarding patients with bleeding disorder. The questionnaire was previously pilot tested and validated by 4 professors at the Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Dental Public Health and 6 professors in the Department of Hematology, Faculty of Medicine-Alexandria University before releasing the final version of the questionnaire. It consisted of 33 items arranged in four sections. The first section was concerned with the demographic variables of the participating dentists. The second and third sections enquired about the participants' knowledge and attitudes regarding bleeding disorders symptoms and management, while the forth section of the questionnaire assessed the respondents' reported practices concerning bleeding disorders patients and actions taken to manage patients with the disease.
Results:Dentists participating in the study (n= 340 from 400 with a response rate of 85%) showed that Ministry of Health dentists had a fair knowledge, good attitudes and excellent reported practices toward bleeding disorders patients visiting the Ministry of Health clinics.
Conclusions: The present study showed a need to increase awareness of dental practitioners regarding bleeding disorders. Therefore, designing appropriate training programs for oral health care providers in order to enhance their practices towards the diagnosis and management of patients with bleeding disorders is mandatory.