Canadian Dentists' View of the Utility and Accessibility of Dental Research

Abstract

As part of a major reorganization of health and health care research in Canada, a study was performed to investigate the views of Canadian dentists on the utility and accessibility of the results of dental research. A cross-sectional survey design was used. Questionnaires and a postage-prepaid reply envelope were mailed with the December 2001 issue of the Journal of the Canadian Dental Association (JCDA) to all registered Canadian dentists. No second mailing occurred. Of 17,648 questionnaires distributed, 2,797 were returned representing a 15.8 percent response rate. In this sample, 64.3 percent found research findings easily available, 88.8 percent found research findings useful, and 95.8 percent had already changed one or more aspects of their clinical practice due to research findings. Significant differences in preferred means of learning the results of research and preferred formats for written reports of research findings were evident between generalist/clinicians and specialist/researchers. These results suggest that Canadian dentists are interested in the results of research and apply them to their practice, but that there are two main groups (generalist/clinicians and specialist/researchers) with different needs for learning the results of that research.