Nivel de conocimiento de estudiantes de odontología sobre la Apnea Obstructiva del Sueño

Abstract

Introduction: obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a commonly undiagnosed chronic disease. Although dentists are an important resource in entifying people at risk for OSA, less than 50% are able to identify the common signs and symptoms of sleep-disordered breathing. Objective: To determine the level of knowledge and attitudes about OSA in dental students at the Universidad Santo Tomas, Bucaramanga, Colombia. Materials and methods: cross-sectional analytic study carried out on 133 students belonging to the eighth, ninth and tenth semesters of the Santo Tomas University School of Dentistry. The OSAKA questionnaire (Knowledge and Attitudes about Obstructive Sleep Apnea) validated in its Spanish version was used to measure knowledge and attitudes about OSA. Results: the participants had a median of 22 years, being mostly female in 75.19%, the majority belonged to stratum three with 43.61%, and 41.35% belonged to the eighth semester. In dentistry students, an average of 21.88% was found; however, a higher score was highlighted in male participants. It was found that of the students who obtained a high score, 38.89% belonged to the ninth semester. The attitude regarding the importance of this disease is very good; however, confidence in its identification and handling is quite poor. A negative correlation was found between the level of knowledge and attitudes in the participants. Conclusions: dentistry students have a lack of knowledge about OSA. Strategies should be established to improve the level of knowledge and arouse the interest of dentists for an efficient and adequate detection of this disorder.