Abstract
Aims: The WHO has stated that tobacco use is the single greatest cause of preventable death globally. The aims of this study were to assess: the smoking prevalence, its effect on dental health behaviour among students in Dental Medicine in Iasi, Romania and their attitudes in providing programs to patients for smoking cessation, using a newly developed Expert System.
Methods. For this purpose data available from the SANFACTOR project were used. A cross-sectional study of all 221 fifth grade students was conducted from December 2015 to April 2016. In this way artificial intelligence was used in order to develop an expert system in the field of doctor-patient dialogue using specific communication. Data including: DMFT, CPI and gum colour, tooth-brushing habits, etc. were collected. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to study differences between smokers and non-smokers. This study was approved by the ethics committee of “Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy and all subjects consented. SPSS 19.0 was used for data analysis.
Results. The response rate was 99.8%, with 47% (n=103) males and 53% (n=117) females. The prevalence of smoking was 29.8%. Smoking was more prevalent among males (39% - n=40) than female students (16.6% - n=19). The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed some items that were different between smokers and non-smokers. Non- smokers tended to brush their teeth more often than smokers (OR 8.67, 95% CI 2.45-41.29) and were more concerned about the colour of their gums (OR 9.02, 95% CI 2.47-42.23). The percentage of students who answered that they want to learn how to conduct smoking cessation programs for patients was 58.5% (n=129).
Conclusions. It is necessary to provide lectures on tobacco use prevention as well as practical training programs about giving up smoking in the dental education curriculum. The SANFACTOR Expert System may contribute to the training and support of all people involved in tobacco control activities, including research, implementation and evaluation.
This study was supported by Romanian National Centre for Scientific Research.
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