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Dental Students’ Knowledge and Attitudes About Electronic Cigarettes: A Cross‐Sectional Study at One Saudi University
Author(s) -
Natto Zuhair Saleh
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of dental education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.53
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1930-7837
pISSN - 0022-0337
DOI - 10.21815/jde.019.162
Subject(s) - curriculum , cross sectional study , medicine , family medicine , dental education , cigarette smoking , meaning (existential) , psychology , medical education , dentistry , pedagogy , pathology , psychotherapist
There is limited information about what dental students know about the risks and effects of e‐cigarettes, and there is even less information regarding their attitudes about e‐cigarettes. The aim of this study was to assess dental students’ knowledge, education, and attitudes regarding e‐cigarettes and their confidence in discussing e‐cigarettes with patients. All fourth‐ to sixth‐year students registered at the King Abdulaziz University Faculty of Dentistry were invited to participate in this cross‐sectional study conducted during a three‐week period in December 2018. The focus was a comparison of never versus ever e‐smokers (“ever” meaning current or former e‐smokers). The response rate was 38.7% (193/498). Among the responding students, 43.2% (n=83) had ever used an e‐cigarette, and 11 (5.7%) reported being current users. Almost 95% (n=183) of the total participants said they did not feel confident about their e‐cigarette education in dental school. Students who had ever used an e‐cigarette said they were more confident discussing e‐cigarettes with patients than did students who had never used them and also demonstrated greater belief that e‐cigarettes lower the risk of cancer for patients who use them as an alternative to smoking traditional cigarettes (p<0.001). This study provides evidence of a gap in dental students’ attitudes and knowledge regarding e‐cigarettes, making it necessary to integrate e‐cigarette education into future curricula.