Comparison of Two Educational Methods to Improve Emergency Management Among Dentists

Abstract

The efficacy of different educational methods needs to be evaluated in dental courses. The main objective of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of two educational methods in the improvement of medical emergencies management among dentists in terms of knowledge, diagnosis, practice, and availability of necessary drugs and equipment. The target population of this randomized controlled trial study was all the dentists working in public and private offices in the city of Tehran, Iran. Baseline data collection through a designed and piloted questionnaire was conducted among 210 randomly selected dentists. The dentists were then randomly assigned to one of the one-day workshop program (W), flipchart (F), and control (C) groups. One month after interventions the follow-up data collection using the same questionnaire was performed. Chi-square, non-parametric Kruskal Wallis, and Wilcoxon Signed Ranks were used to compare outcome variables among the three groups before and after the interventions. The total response rate was 61.5%. No statistical differences existed among the three groups regarding the background at baseline. Diagnosis, practice, and knowledge score before and after the intervention improved significantly among the participants in W group (P=0.02, P<0.001 and P<0.001, respectively). In both F and C group, improvement occurred in practice scores (P=0.03 and P<0.001, respectively). Continuing education in the form of attending workshop seemed to be superior to receiving educational flipchart in the enhancement of the self-reported knowledge and practice of practicing dentists. None of these educational methods seemed to have significant effect on the availability of necessary equipment and drugs to manage medical emergencies in dental offices.