Premium
Internet use, online information seeking and knowledge among third molar patients attending public dental services
Author(s) -
Hanna K,
Sambrook P,
Armfield JM,
Brennan DS
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
australian dental journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.701
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1834-7819
pISSN - 0045-0421
DOI - 10.1111/adj.12509
Subject(s) - the internet , ehealth , medicine , odds ratio , odds , preference , information seeking behavior , scale (ratio) , health literacy , family medicine , educational attainment , information seeking , psychology , logistic regression , world wide web , computer science , information retrieval , health care , physics , quantum mechanics , economics , microeconomics , economic growth
Background While Australians are searching the internet for third molar (TM) information, the usefulness of online sources may be questioned due to quality variation. This study explored: (i) internet use, online information‐seeking behaviour among TM patients attending public dental services; and (ii) whether patients’ TM knowledge scores are associated with the level of internet use and eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS) scores. Methods Baseline survey data from the ‘Engaging Patients in Decision‐Making’ study were used. Variables included: sociodemographics, internet access status, online information‐seeking behaviour, eHEALS, the Control Preferences Scale (CPS) and TM knowledge. Results Participants (N = 165) were mainly female (73.8%), aged 19–25 years (42.4%) and had ‘secondary school or less’ education (58.4%). A majority (N = 79, 52.7%) had sought online dental information which was associated with active decisional control preference (odds ratio = 3.1, P = 0.034) and higher educational attainment (odds ratio = 2.7, P = 0.040). TM knowledge scores were not associated with either the level of internet use ( F (2,152) = 2.1, P = 0.094, χ 2 = 0.0310) or the eHEALS scores ( r = 0.147, P = 0.335). Conclusions ‘The internet‐prepared patient’ phenomena exists among public TM patients and was explained by preference for involvement in decision‐making. However, internet use was not associated with better TM knowledge. Providing TM patients with internet guidance may be an opportunity to improve TM knowledge.