Abstract
Dental informatics combines dentistry with information technology (IT) for the purpose of education, patient care and research. The aim was to determine access, knowledge and performance of IT among dental undergraduate students of Islamic Azad University of Isfahan.
Methods: This cross-sectional study used a stratified random sampling method to collect the data from 150 dental students via self-administered questionnaires in 2015. Validity (CVI=98%) and reliability (Kappa value>0.8) of the questionnaire was assessed prior to the study. Islamic Azad University of Isfahan Ethics Committee approved the study. Chi- square test, mann-whitney, spearman correlation coefficient and linear regression model served for statistical analyses.
Results: Among the students (response rate=100%), 86 (58.9%) were women. Only 2 (1.3%) students indicated that they had no access to a computer, and 6 (4%) students did not have a personal email. A majority of students reported using a computer at home (140; 94%) and had access to the internet at home (129; 86%). Around 70% of the students reported their access to a computer and internet as good. Dental students had used the internet mostly for personal activities rather than academic reasons. The main obstacle to internet usage was time barrier due to the slow internet speed. Mean knowledge score of dental students was 11(SD 1.7; range 7-14). However, most of them were not familiar with any general (114; 78.6%) and professional dental websites (106; 72.6%). Most dental students (130; 87.8%) had used social networks but just a few (15; 10.3%) had checked their emails on a daily basis. A large number of students judged themselves competent in Microsoft Word (130; 86.6%) and Microsoft PowerPoint (126; 84%) and most acquired such skills through personal experience (119; 79.3% students). Professional use of IT was low. Less than 13% had used professional dental websites or had downloaded educated materials on a daily basis. Students with higher knowledge of IT and those who had reported more general IT usage, showed higher level of professional usage (p<0.05).
Conclusion: Dental students access to computer and internet was good. Most of them however weren’t familiar with general and professional dental websites, and their professional usage was low.
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