Development of an evidence-based dentistry course for dental students and its effect on their awareness, attitude and self-assessed knowledge

Abstract

Background and Aim: The aim of evidence-based dentistry (EBD) is to make best clinical decisions with the judicious and systematic uses of the best scientific evidences. The objective of the present study was to develop an EBD course for dental students, and to assess the effects of participation in this course on awareness, attitude and self-assessed knowledge of the students. The students’ satisfaction with the course was also assessed.Materials and Methods: In this controlled interventional study, 65 dental students in two main state Dental Schools in Tehran were selected and were divided into two groups: 43 students in the intervention group and 22 in control group. An EBD course was developed and presented for the intervention group. The scores of awareness, attitude and self-assessed knowledge were determined in both groups before and after participation in the course by means of a questionnaire. The post-test questionnaire in the intervention group had also some questions about course evaluation. Student’s t-test and linear regression model served for statistical analysis. Statistical significance was set at 0.05.Results: The students participating in the EBD course showed more improvements regarding total scores of awareness, attitude and self-assessed knowledge when compared to control individuals (P < 0.0001, P < 0.005 and P < 0.0001, respectively). Of different studied factors, only students’ gender showed significant influence on the knowledge scores changes (P = 0.042).Conclusions: The developed EBD course seemed to be effective to improve the participants’ awareness, attitude and self-assessed knowledge regarding evidence-based concepts. The results call for more emphasis on EBD in dental curriculum through designing courses on the subject.