Abstract
BackgroundDigital and social media (DSM) have been transforming the landscape of society, business and education. However, since the rapid growth in DSM uptake, there is a lack of in-depth understanding of its perceived risks amongst dental students and dental professionals.
Perceived risks are a crucial factor in DSM uptake in the e-commerce context; but whether this is true in the dental professional context has not been investigated fully.
Aim
This PhD research aims to identify and analyse the perceived risk factors of using DSM in the general and dental professional contexts, to provide a better explanation of the uptake of these technologies within the dental profession.
Methods
An exploratory sequential mixed methods was adopted in two complementary studies conducted at the Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences (FoDOCS), King’s College London, in the UK. Study 1 (the qualitative study) involved 21 semi-structured interviews with N=10 dental professionals and N=11 dental students in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. The participants were recruited using a purposive sampling technique. The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The interviews were analysed and categorised using a thematic framework analysis. Data from Study 1 provided preliminary risk themes, and results from this study were then utilised to inform the development of the Study 2 questionnaire, and to further validate the identified risk factors. The risk factor questionnaire was developed, piloted and validated, and then administered to undergraduate and postgraduate dental students, and dental professionals: N=188, N=51 and N=62, respectively. The responses were analysed using the Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) method, and Cronbach’s α‐coefficient reliability test to determine the internal consistency of the extracted factors. The overall mean scores for the derived factors were calculated to indicate the salient factors. Also, the differences of perceived risk factor scores between groups, based on their education level, were compared using a Kruskal-Wallis test.
Results
Nine perceived risk themes were identified in Study 1. Six themes were related to the use of DSM specific to the dental professional context (e.g., breaching patient confidentiality – which concerned the challenge of withdrawing patient information once it had been uploaded on DSM). Three themes were relevant for all users of DSM in the general context (e.g., privacy risk, which pertained to the challenges of protecting and managing personal information on DSM).
From nine perceived risk factors in total, EFA in Study 2 extracted eight perceived risk factors with an acceptable Cronbach’s α of 0.9. The resulting risk factors were refined and re-categorised (e.g., the questionnaire items for two factors, identified previously as social and psychological risks, were loaded into one factor and labelled as negative impact on self-image). The comparison of DSM risk factors between undergraduate, postgraduate students and dental professionals’ groups indicates significant differences in some risk factors, one of which is the negative impact on self-image (P values <0.05).
Conclusion
This research provides evidence that helps to understand and validate the perceived risk factors of DSM. The studies show that there are risks associated with all DSM users in the general context, but that some perceived risks are specific to the dental professional context. In addition, the results indicate higher agreement ratings for risks pertaining to ethical and professionalism issues, such as disclosure of patients’ confidential information, and sharing deceptive information related to dental and oral health. Further investigations are required to assess the effect of these risk factors on the DSM uptake.
| Date of Award | 1 Aug 2022 |
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| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | Jonathan San Diego (Supervisor), Avijit Banerjee (Supervisor) & Melanie Nasseripour (Supervisor) |