Transcript Document
GOOD MORNING
USE OF INTERNET AS RESOURCE
OF ORAL HEALTH INFORMATION
AMONG DENTAL PATIENTS
Presenter:
Dr SANJEEV LALLER
[email protected]
Co-presenter:
Dr RAVINDER S SAINI
IRSL-14086
INTRODUCTION
The evolution of the Internet has not only enabled the public
to view multiple reserves of information at the click of a
computer mouse, but even to the extent that access to
medical and dental information is no longer the sole
preserve of health professionals.
And thus, the Internet has the potential to educate and
empower the dental consumer by providing information on
oral health services and by supporting self-help and patient
choice.
Thus this study was conducted with sole aim to find out use
of internet as resource of oral health information among
dental patients.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Harris CE conducted a study to determine if patients
attending student dental hygiene clinics had accessed the
Internet, used the Internet as a source of information on
both general health and oral health.
Chestnutt IG sought to identify how patient information on
the Internet has influenced the delivery of oral care and the
use practitioners themselves make of the Internet.
Riordain RN investigated the use of the Internet by patients
attending a range of dental clinics to search for information
regarding dental procedures, and also to investigate their
interest in online dental consultations.
OBJECTIVES
This study was designed to determine if patients
attending dental college clinics had accessed the
Internet, used the Internet as a source of
information for oral health, bought oral health care
products on-line, and to identify the reason for
seeking health information for which the internet is
used and to identify the most frequently used
location.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The present study was conducted at PDM Dental College
and Research Institute, Bahadurgarh, Haryana, India.
A questionnaire consisting of 12 questions including
patient’s demographics, internet usage, commonly used
sites, whether they use internet to consult dentist online,
location of internet usage, whether use internet for online
dental shopping, most frequently searched website,
whether search/download dental health related videos,
whether they use internet again to source health
information etc was distributed to 1000 patients.
Study samples were divided into three age groups: group-I
(21-40) years, group-II (41-60) years and group-III (>60)
years.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Out of 1000 questionnaires distributed to dental patients,
only 700 were included in the study.
Out of these 700 study samples it was found that only
480(68.57%) are familiar with internet usage or conduct
research online to gather information related to any field
with males (62.10%) dominating over females differing from
previous study by Riordian RN. Thus 480 were considered
as the final study sample for analysis.
Google was reported the most common and frequently
used search engine by these patients.
RESULTS FOR AGE-WISE ONLINE RESEARCH FOR
DENTAL PROBLEM
Age group(years)
Online research conducted n(%)
Online not research conducted Total
n(%)
I (21-40)
118 (24.58%)
72 (15%)
190
II (41-60)
62(12.91%)
98 (20.41%)
160
III (>60)
10(2.08%)
120 (25%)
130
Total
190 (39.58%)
290 (60.41%)
480
(%age out of 480 sample size)
RESULTS FOR AGE-WISE ONLINE RESEARCH FOR
DENTAL PROBLEM
25
20
15
Online research conducted
Online research not conducted
10
5
0
Group-I
Group-II
Group-III
RESULTS FOR LOCATION OF INTERNET USAGE
Location
Online researchers
%age
Home
68
35.78
Work place
102
53.68
Cyber café
20
10.52
RESULTS FOR LOCATION OF INTERNET USAGE
Online researchers
Home
Work place
Cyber café
RESULTS FOR REASON FOR ONLINE DENTAL RESEARCH
Reason for research
Number
%age
To improve knowledge about problem
88
46.31
To seek alternative treatment
32
16.84
Online dental shopping
02
1.05
To verify cost of treatment
10
5.26
To seek specialist for problem
58
30.52
RESULTS FOR REASON FOR ONLINE DENTAL RESEARCH
Percentage
Seek specialist
Verify cost
Online dental shopping
Percentage
Seek alternative treatment
To improve knowledge
0
10
20
30
40
50
FINDINGS
(68.57%) are familiar with internet usage or conduct
research online to gather information related to any field with
males (62.10%) domination. Out of these online research for
dental problem was conducted by 190(39.58%) patients only
with maximum being in age group-I.
The reason for this could be that more patients were not
aware of or didn’t know how to search for dental sites. And
age group-I being consisting of students or Government or
private employees and are educated and know basics of
internet search engines and thus were in majority of internet
users.
FINDINGS
Most favorable site or location for Internet use by dental
patients was found to be the work place (53.68%) and thus
it should be taken care by the management, head in charge
or owners of the working place to make possible
arrangements for good and proper internet facilities.
FINDINGS
Majority of patients (46.31%) conduct online research
mainly to improve their knowledge about their existing
dental problem. 30.52 % patients search specialist for
their oral health problems.
Therefore dental practitioners should motivate patients to
research their dental/oral condition or problem online and
should encourage them to search for dental products
online.
CONCLUSION
Internet plays an important role in keeping patients up
to date related to their dental conditions and related
remedies. Availability of Internet at work place and at
home is important. Dental practitioners should teach
their patients regarding online research to gather
information for oral health solutions and encourage
them to be cautious about the scientific validity of the
information provided. Thus practitioner-led guidance
for patients regarding quality information resources
online is critical and can bring excellent changes in
maintaining good oral health around the world.
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