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Knowledge, Attitude and Practices Regarding Telemedicine among Dental Practitioners

Mohd Ammar Aslam, Akash N, Santhosh Kumar*

Aim: The aim of the study is to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices regarding telemedicine among dentists in Chennai.

Introduction: Telemedicine can be broadly defined as the use of telecommunications technologies to provide medical information and services. Telemedicine allows health care professionals to evaluate, diagnose and treat patients at a distance using telecommunications technology. Interest in the field has increased dramatically in the 1990s. They are the new and advanced technology to create a web of communication that can help us in difficult situations; they apply to the medical field too.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 100 dentists in chennai, using a questionnaire consisting of 15 close-ended questions. Questionnaire survey was conducted through social media. The obtained results were analyzed in SPSS Software. Results obtained were expressed in frequencies and percentages; mean and standard deviation. Pearson’s chi square test was used to analyze the association between the categorical variables.

Results: 55% of the respondents are aware of the definition of telemedicine. 76% of the respondents chose telemedicine because telemedicine is more convenient for them to apply. From the obtained results, 76% of the dentists haven't practiced telemedicine. On gender comparison, it was seen that males (14%) practiced telemedicine more than that of females (10%).

Conclusion: From the study we can conclude that the dentists have an adequate knowledge of telemedicine, and positive attitude towards telemedicine but they seldom practice telemedicine. Male dentists practice telemedicine more when compared to that of female dentists. People are aware of telemedicine, but they don't practice because of the lack of awareness over the patients. They rarely get an online case to attend, hence they discontinued. The build of trust and bond between the dentist and patient determines the case handling and length. But the inability to get cases is purely the lack of awareness of the patients.