Sostenibilidad ambiental: Gestión de residuos odontológicos en el Servicio Público

Abstract

Introduction: medical waste is a serious problem for both society and the environment, and knowledge about its proper management is essential for the training of health care professionals. Objective: evaluate knowledge among dental professionals working in Basic Health Units from municipalities in northeast Sao Paulo, Brazil, about proper management of medical waste. Methods: the data collection tool used was a semi-structured questionnaire completed during visits to the health centers, aimed at verifying the adequacy of dental waste management. A descriptive analysis was performed. Additionally, chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests were applied to determine the association between waste disposal, and knowledge and information about the subject, using a significance level of 1 %. Analyses were conducted on BioEstat 5.0. Results: of the total professionals (n= 74), most (97.3 %) stated not knowing which are the medical wastes, and all believed that they may be harmful to health. However, 41.9 % did not provide a correct answer about disposal of infected gloves and suction devices, and 20.3 % about sharps disposal. With respect to information about the subject, 40.5 % did not obtain it. Conclusions: knowledge about proper disposal of medical waste is still deficient among these professionals, pointing to the importance of professional training and of proposing forms of proper management of medical waste.