Use of an online medical database for clinical decision-making processes: assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practice of oral health care providers

Figures & data

Table 1 Demographic information of the studied population

Demographic variable	Frequency (N)	Percentage %
Sex
Male Female	137 64	68 32
Age groups, N=201
20–30 years 31–40 years 41–50 years	53 130 18	26 65 9
Working location
Urban area Rural area	131 70	65 35
Employment
Private health sector Public health sector	131 70	65 35

Table 2 Frequency and percentage distribution on the awareness of peer-reviewed clinical decision support tools among oral health care providers

	Awareness of clinical decision support tools among oral health care providers
	PubMed N (%)	Drug.com N (%)	Medscape N (%)	MedlinePlus N (%)
Yes	82 (41)	59 (29)	33 (16)	30 (14)
No	119 (59)	142 (71)	168 (84)	171 (85)

Table 3 Frequency and percentage distribution of other online resources used for making a clinical decision

Resources	Yes, N (%)	No, N (%)
YouTube	119 (60)	81 (40)
Google	161 (81)	39 (19)
Wikipedia	70 (35)	131 (65)
Yahoo search	33 (16)	168 (84)

Table 4 Summarized data of attitude toward the use of online medical databases and resources

Attitude toward the use of online medical database	Oral health care providers
	Agree, N (%)	Disagree, N (%)	Neutral, N (%)
Internet-based resources address my clinical decision-making needs.	184 (92)	11 (5)	6 (3)
Internet-based resources are an important part of my clinical practice.	174 (87)	14 (7)	13 (6)
I believe the information provided on internet-based resources is beneficial to my patients.	136 (68)	9 (4)	56 (28)
I believe that having internet and computer in our dental services will facilitate proper use of online resources.	197 (98)	2 (1)	1 (1)
I have confidence in the reliability of the information found on internet-based resources.	142 (71)	27 (13)	32 (16)

Table 5 Association between attitude and using internet-based resources for taking clinical decision support.

Independent variable	Dependent variable
	Use of internet-based resources to support clinical decision among oral health care providers (N=201)
	N (frequency of “agree”)
Internet-based resources address my clinical decision-making needs; (92%)*	184
Internet-based resources are an important part of my clinical practice; (87%)*	174
I believe the information provided on the internet-based resources is beneficial to my patients (68%)*	136
I have confidence in the reliability of the information found on internet-based resources (71%)*	142

Note: *P-value <0.05

Table 6 Usage of smartphone applications for clinical decision making amongst the respondents

Oral health care providers	Use of smartphone applications for clinical decision-making processes
	Agree N (%)	Disagree N (%)	Neutral N (%)	Total N (%)
Total	100 (49.7)	41 (20.4)	60 (29.9)	201 (100.0)

Table 7 Distribution of the information frequently search online amongst oral healthcare providers

Information frequently searched online
Diagnostic	Drug prescription	Drug adverse effects	Clinical procedures	Drug interactions
28 (13.9%)	50 (24.9%)	33 (16.4%)	70 (34.8%)	10 (5%)

Table 8 Distribution of participants by use of internet-based resources for clinical decision and gender

Use of internet-based resources to support clinical decisions	Sex
	Female N=64	Male N=137
Yes	83% (N=53)	78% (N=107)
No	17% (N=11)	22% (N=30)