Awareness about the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice regarding Consumer Protection Act in Dental Professionals, Interns and Post Graduate Students in a Dental Institute - A Questionnaire Based Study

Context: Dental professionals are highly obliged to the service and welfare of the society. Any breach or malpractices in health care delivery can significantly attract a number of litigations towards the practitioner. A proper knowledge regarding Consumer Protection Act (COPRA) will not only safeguard the clinician but will also enhance safe health care delivery in a standard and efficient way Aim: To evaluate the amount of awareness regarding the knowledge, attitude and practice regarding Consumer Protection Act amongst dental professionals, interns and post graduate (PG) students Settings and design: A cross-sectional survey was conducted amongst interns, post-graduate students and teaching staff of Sinhgad Dental College& Hospital, Pune. Materials and methods: Census sampling was done.196 participants were evaluated with a structured, closed-ended, self-administered questionnaire. Statistical analysis: SPSS software (version 21) was used for data analysis. One-sample Chi-Square test and Binomial tests were applied (P greater than 0.05. ) MS Excel was used to calculate percentages for the obtained responses. Results and conclusion: 65.88 % of MDS staff, 48.75 % BDS staff, 48.88 % post-graduate students and 49.34 % interns show a comparable were aware about Consumer Protection Act. There is a need to increase the level of awareness regarding Consumer Protection Act in dental professionals