Comparative analysis of the state of infection control in dental healthcare organizations of the Kyrgyz Republic

This article presents the results of two monitoring and assessment of the state of infection control in dental organizations of the Kyrgyz Republic, in order to prevent infections associated with the provision of medical care. The studies were conducted in 36 dental organizations using the “Scorecard of the state of infection control in dentistry”, which includes 31 criteria for 7 functional and organizational blocks (administrative measures, sanitary and hygienic requirements, safety of medical procedures, disinfection, disinfection and pre-sterilization cleaning, sterilization of dental instruments and materials and healthcare waste management). The assessment of the state of infection control was carried out by direct observation of existing practices, an operational survey of medical staff, discussion with the medical staff of the organization of cause-and-effect relationships between processes and phenomena (qualitative assessment) and the method of calculating a numerical expression of the percentage ratio between the existing and expected fulfillment of infection control requirements (quantitative assessment). During the assessment, violations of the infection control requirements were identified in almost all observed infection control assessment blocks. The measures developed based on the results of the baseline assessment and carried out to improve the state of infection control in the dental health care organizations of the Kyrgyz Republic made it possible to obtain an increase in quality indicators by 1.9 times. Nevertheless, further improvement of the system of measures for the prevention of infections associated with the provision of dental care to the population is required.