Cronicon OPEN ACCESS EC DENTAL SCIENCE EC DENTAL SCIENCE Research Article Biomedical Waste Management among Dental Health Care Personnel during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Questionnaire Validation and Preliminary Results Maryam Khader Alghamdi 1 *, Khalid Aboalshamat 2 , Raneem Alahdal 3 , Sarah Alzanbaki 3 , Maha Alzahrani 4 , Wjoud Albishi 5 , Wejdan Salman 5 and Rana Alsulimani 4 1 Department of Dentistry, General Dentist, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia 2 Department of Preventive Dentistry, Dental Public Health Division, Faculty of Dentistry, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia 3 Department of Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. 4 Department of Dentistry, General Dentist, Alfarabi College, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 5 Department of Dentistry, General Dentist, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Citation: Maryam Khader Alghamdi., et al. “Biomedical Waste Management among Dental Health Care Personnel during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Questionnaire Validation and Preliminary Results”. EC Dental Science 20.2 (2021): 03-11. *Corresponding Author: Maryam Khader Alghamdi, Department of Dentistry, General Dentist, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Received: November 27, 2020; Published: January 18, 2021 Abstract Introduction: Dental waste is considered hazardous biomedical waste (BMW), and it generates different types of materials. The im- portance of management of BMW has been accentuated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to validate a questionnaire as- sessing the knowledge, attitudes and practices around BMW management among dental health care personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 159 dental students and dentists in Saudi Arabia who were recruited via online ques- tionnaire. The questionnaire was first validated through piloting. T-tests, linear regressions, chi- square, and ANOVA were used for statistical analyses, and statistical significance was set as a probability value of less than 0.05. Results: The mean of the participants’ total knowledge score was 6.04 (standard deviation = 2.10) out of 14 questions. About 79.9% were aware that BMW management rules apply to dentists. However, only 6.9% knew how to dispose of a radiographic lead foil. Knowledge levels were significantly higher (0.048) among dentists than dental students. Between 84.9% and 91.8% of respondents think BMW training is important, should be a compulsory undergraduate course and became more important during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: The questionnaire has been validated and can be used to assess dental BMW awareness. The level of BMW knowledge in Saudi Arabia is low and needs reinforcement among dental students and dentists. Keywords: Biomedical Waste; Dental Waste; COVID-19; Health Care; Dentist; Dental Intern Introduction With civilization’s advances in medical technology, a greater share of the population has access to health care sectors than in the past. But the increased number of health care establishments also leads to increases in the waste they generate, referred to as health care waste [1] or biomedical waste (BMW). This waste has a much greater potential for being infectious than any other type of waste [2,3] and the health care sector produces a tremendous volume of BMW in the course of curing diseases [4]. BMW can be defined as any solid, liquid, or fluid waste, including the waste container and any intermediate products generated during the diagnosis, treatment, or immunization of animals or human begins in any medical activity, including at research centers, in testing, or in the production of animal or biological waste [5,6]. BMW can be classified into two categories according to its characteristics: general health care waste represents approximate-