Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Administration of Intravenous Drugs among Dental Students

AIM To study the knowledge attitude and practice regarding administration of intravenous drugs among dental students BACKGROUND Intravenous drugs is often used because of the control it provides over the dosage and in some situations, the patient may require quick medication. This's includes medical emergencies such as heart attack stroke poisoning etc. Intravenous drug administration sends the medication directly into the blood stream, thus it has better bio availability. It has two types of administration depending on the duration of need. They are short term need, immediate need and long term need. For short term needs standard catheter or a needle is used, this is to administer pain medications or antibiotics during the patient's stay in the hospital. For immediate need an IV push or bolus is given which quickly sends a one time dose of drug into the patients bloodstream. For long term need IV infusion can be used. This is precise and can be controlled. IV medications are generally safe but if it exceeds dosage limits it can cause both mild and dangerous side effects. To prevent this the doctor should be aware of the dosage to be given and the side effects it leads to. MATERIALS AND METHODS A questionnaire was designed to evaluate the knowledge and awareness of intravenous drugs among dental students. The questionnaire consisted of 10 questions. The survey was conducted for the students of saveetha dental college, Chennai, who are in their undergraduate course of dentistry according to dental council of India and were undergoing one year mandatory internship. RESULT From the above research it has been inferred that almost 94% of the students donot have enough awareness about intravenous drugs and their administration which has to given a thought about. But most of them had a superficial knowledge about intravenous drugs which can be improved by conferences and seminars regarding this subject. CONCLUSION Knowledge about intravenous drugs and their administration was found to be inadequate among dental students. The results of this study emphasise the need for the improvement of training of dentists regarding intravenous drugs and their administration at undergraduate level.