Feeling prepared to perform tobacco control behaviors (ORs = 1.9 2.8), a more positive attitude score (4 points) from 11 tobacco-related items (ORs = 1.5 1.8), and a higher statewide tobacco use prevalence significantly predicted performance of tobacco control behaviors.
Over one-half agreed pediatric dentists should engage in tobacco control behaviors, but identified patient resistance as a barrier.
Findings suggest thatraining programs on tobacco use and dependence treatment in the pediatric dental setting may be needed to promote tobacco control behaviors for adolescent patients.
This paper presents important new information because it not only reports prevalences of tobacco control behaviors, but also characteristics of providers and their settings related to those behaviors.
Chi-square tests and logistic regression with odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals assessed factors related to pediatric dentists' tobacco control behaviors.
Tobacco-related characteristics of the responding dentist also were assessed, such as tobacco use status, previous tobacco cessation training, willingness to receive training, tobacco control behaviors (identifying/asking, advising, documenting) and perceived barriers to tobacco cessation (11 items using a 3-point Likert scale).
While these strategies may have increased tobacco-control knowledge among pediatric and general dentists, they appear not to have changed tobacco-control behavior dramatically in general dentists.
It is likely that changes in the prevalences of tobacco-control behavior among pediatric dentists over time have paralleled those of general dentists.
A review of evaluations of mass media health campaigns, most of which addressed tobacco control and lifestyle behaviors in high-income countries, concluded that targeted, well-executed mass media campaigns can have small to moderate effects not only on knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes but also on behaviors.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the tobacco control knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of pediatric dentists and to identify predictors of recommended tobacco intervention behaviors.
Principally this report demonstrates the potential value of real-time, free and geographically comprehensive search query surveillance for tobacco control, and, more generally, health behavior research.
