Examining the Level of Knowledge, Attitude and Performance of Dentists in Shiraz, Iran, Regarding Tennis Elbow Disease

 Tennis elbow disease is one of the most common diseases that cause pain in the elbow joint, the prevalence of which is 1-2% before the age of 40, and it increases 4 times in men and 2 times in women in people over 40 years old. Dentists are a group that are more susceptible to this disease due to frequent physical activities, therefore the purpose of the present study was to determine and investigate the level of knowledge, attitude and performance (KAP) of dentists in Shiraz regarding tennis elbow disease.

The present cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in 2018. The statistical population included 51 dentists with a clinical experience of at least three years in Shiraz. Participants without direct clinical activity and people with related underlying diseases were excluded from the study. The data collecting instrument was a questionnaire and the final questionnaire was divided into five sections; Personal information, medical information, knowledge survey, attitude survey and performance survey were designed. The collected data were analyzed using analysis of variance, correlation coefficient and multivariate regression tests.

In the studied population, 9.8% of people exhibited symptoms which indicate dtennis elbow disease. On average, the examined dentists were diagnosed with tennis elbow disease 0.13 times in during the previous year. The average score of the ad in the community was 34.9 points out of 100, the average attitude score was 73.1 and the average performance score was 64.1. According to statistical tests, the scores obtained from these three factors were significantly related (p≥0.05).

Despite the acceptable level of knowledge, attitude and performance, the results indicated that there was a significant relationship between age, work history and exposure to joint diseases and disability resulting from tennis elbow disease with the score of knowledge, attitude and performance, which was common to stay away from the learning environment with age. It is suggested to raise the level of knowledge, attitude and performance by health policy makers by passing academic units and holding formal trainings in these areas.