Dental Hygienists Knowledge, Beliefs, and Intentions Regarding Asking Adolescents About Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems Use

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose was to assess clinical dental hygienists' knowledge, beliefs, and intentions regarding asking adolescents about electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) use. MethodsCross-sectional survey research was conducted with a convenience sample of dental hygienists using a validated instrument developed based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) that contained the following sections: demographics, knowledge, behavioral belief (BB), normative beliefs, control beliefs, and behavioral intention. Outcomes were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlations, and multivariate regression analysis. ResultsOf the 360 participants who opened the survey, 257 completed it for a completion rate of 71.4%. The knowledge score mean was 72%. BBs suggested that a majority (83%) of participants were likely to ask adolescent patient about ENDS use, however, normative beliefs showed that only about half had the support of their dentist/supervisor, and one-third (33%) felt they had sufficient tobacco/nicotine use and dependency guideline resources. This resulted in only half having the behavioral intention to ask adolescents about ENDS use. Demographic variables were not significantly correlated with the TPB subscales or intention. In the regression model all three TPB subscales predicted intention (F3, 251) = 46.1; p < .001). The coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.35) suggested 35% of the variation in the intention to ask about ENDS use can be explained by the model. DiscussionMost participants had favorable BBs toward asking about ENDS use among adolescents. However, adequate support from dentists/supervisors and training on guidelines for prevention and cessation of ENDS is needed to encourage dental hygienists to ask adolescents about ENDS use.