Validated tools to assess dentists' knowledge, practices and attitudes regarding the management of medical emergencies: a scoping review

• Grant number: 25/05903-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: August 01, 2025
• End date: June 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Dentistry - Dental Clinics
• Principal Investigator: Cristiane de Cássia Bergamaschi
• Grantee: Beatriz Carolina Esquitini Lopes
• Host Institution: Pró-Reitoria de Pós-Graduação, Pesquisa, Extensão e Inovação. Universidade de Sorocaba (UNISO). Sorocaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Although medical emergencies are infrequent during dental care, when they do occur, they are acute and pose immediate risks to the patient's overall health if not effectively reversed. In this context, the objective of this study is to identify validated tools described in the scientific literature that assess dentists' knowledge, practices, and attitudes regarding the management of medical emergencies. This is a scoping review that will seek information from the following sources: MEDLINE (PubMed), EMBASE, Web of Science, Scopus, and the Virtual Health Library, with no restrictions on language or publication date. The reviewers will independently and in duplicate select the studies and extract the data. Discrepant results will be resolved by consensus. Information will be collected on the characteristics of the studies (author, year, country, number of participants, age) and the tools/instruments (number of items and dimensions, whether validation or cross-cultural adaptation was performed, language and culture), among others. The collected data will be analyzed through narrative synthesis and descriptive statistics, when applicable. This knowledge will inform dental professionals and researchers about the available instruments; it may guide the development of a Portuguese-language instrument to assess the knowledge, practices, and attitudes of dentists in managing various medical emergency situations; as well as identify gaps for future research. (AU)