Dentists’ intentions to manage drug users: Role of theory of planned behaviour and continuing education

Abstract

Objectives:To assess dentists' intention to manage drug users (DUs) and to evaluate the role of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and continuing education (CE) in explaining this intention. Materials and Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2017, including dentists from three major Saudi cities. A questionnaire assessed personal and professional background and components of TPB: attitude, perceived social norms, perceived control and intention to manage DUs. Respondents expressed their agreement on a scale from 1 (disagree) to 7 (agree). Receiving CE to manage DUs was also assessed. Adjusted linear regression was used to assess the impact of the TPB constructs and receiving CE on dentists' intention. Results: Response rate = 72% (255/354), mean (SD) age = 35.2 (11.9). The mean (SD) for positive intention to manage DUs = 5.34 (1.37), negative attitude = 4.03 (1.10), positively perceived norms = 5.78 (1.06) and perception of no control = 4.45 (1.08). Only 9% received CE to manage DUs. Positive intention was associated with perception of positive norms (B = 0.73, 95% CI = 0.59, 0.87) and perception of no control (B = −0.47, 95% CI = −0.63, −0.32) but not with receiving CE (P = 0.58). Conclusion:In major Saudi cities, dentists' intention to manage DUs was positive and was explained by TPB components: perception of norms and perception of control.Modified and targeted CE is needed to address this problem. K E Y W O R D Sdentists, dentists/psychology, drug users, Saudi Arabia

Intention to provide tobacco cessation counseling among Indonesian dental students and association with the theory of planned behavior

“…Similarly, the TPB was previously used to explain compliance with tobacco free policy among university students [40] and predict smoking behaviors among students [41]. The advantages of using TPB for this study is that TPB provides a conceptual framework to explain behavior, which is crucial in guiding the development of training to prepare dental students to meet the needs of TCC [29]. Furthermore, TPB is characterized by several features that may help explain its widespread use as a model for the prediction and change of behavior [42].…”

“…Intention, in turn, is related to the attitude toward this behavior, the perceived control over this behavior and the prevailing norms in the surrounding environment toward this behavior. The TPB was previously used to explain dentists' intention to engage in several behaviors such as managing drug users [29], reporting suspected violence against patients [30], managing HIV-positive patients [31] and adopting preventive precautions against COVID-19 [32]. The aim of this study was to assess Indonesian dental students' intention to provide TCC and whether this intention can be explained by the TPB.…”

Behavior change due to COVID-19 among dental academics—The theory of planned behavior: Stresses, worries, training, and pandemic severity

“…These intentions, in turn, are affected by the control that people perceive they have over their actions, by their attitude toward the behavior and whether they think it is useful, important or desirable, and by the norms they perceive to be prevailing around them. The TPB was previously used to explain dentists' behaviors including delivering prevention [17], reporting suspected violence [18], and managing drug users [19]. The change in behaviors among dentists due to the COVID-19 pandemic may be explained by the TPB including the control they perceive they have over avoiding infection by the disease because of previous training they received, worries because of the pandemic which may affect their attitudes and the importance they attach to adopting preventive behaviors, and the prevailing norms around them regarding the seriousness of the pandemic based on the fatalities it causes.…”

Predicting intention of Norwegian dental health‐care workers to use nanomaterials: An application of the augmented theory of planned behavior

“…In addition to the TRA constructs, the TPB includes perceived behavioral control, therefore allowing a better explanation of behaviors which are beyond full volitional control and improved predictive power of the model [24,32]. Moreover,TPB has proved to be a reliable tool in predicting and explaining occupational behaviors [26,30,31,[33][34][35][36]. A systematic review revealed consistency of predicted behavior between health-care professionals and non-health-care professionals, indicating that TPB is a valid tool for use in the occupational context of health care [26].…”

“…A number of studies have reported on residual effects of past behavior on intention and future behavior after having controlled for the original TPB constructs, suggesting that these effects reflect the sufficiency of the TPB model [40,41]. Only a few studies have considered the occupational behavior of dental health-care professionals using a socio-cognitive approach [33,34,36,42,43].…”