Readiness for Teledentistry: Validation of a Tool for Oral Health Professionals

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• 作者：Preethy Nayar ; Kimberly K. McFarland ; Aastha Chandak…
• 关键词：Teledentistry ; Readiness ; Access to oral health care ; Survey
• 刊名：Journal of Medical Systems
• 出版年：2017
• 出版时间：January 2017
• 年：2017
• 卷：41
• 期：1
• 全文大小：940 KB
• 刊物类别：Mathematics and Statistics
• 刊物主题：Statistics
  Statistics for Life Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences
  Health Informatics and Administration
  
• 出版者：Springer Netherlands
• ISSN：1573-689X
• 卷排序：41

文摘

We validated a survey tool to test the readiness of oral health professionals for teledentistry (TD). The survey tool, the University of Calgary Health Telematics Unit’s Practitioner Readiness Assessment Tool (PRAT) gathered information about the participants’ beliefs, attitudes and readiness for TD before and after a teledentistry training program developed for a rural state in the Mid-Western United States. Ninety-three dental students, oral health and other health professionals participated in the TD training program and responded to the survey. Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to assess statistical differences in the change in the readiness rating before and after the training. Principal Components Analysis identified a three factor structure for the PRAT tool: Attitudes/ Attributes of Personnel; Motivation to Change and Institutional Resources. Overall, the evaluation demonstrated a positive change in all trainees’ attitudes following the training sessions, with the majority of trainees acknowledging a positive impact of the training on their readiness for teledentistry.