Social images of medicine and dentistry in Japan. An exploratory study using correspondence analysis

Abstract

To investigate social images associated with dentistry in comparison with nine other medical disciplines. A questionnaire survey among members of the general public. Subjects were asked to state, in not more than five words, the images which they associated with each of the ten disciplines. Komaki City, Shikatsu Town and Nagoya City in Japan. 261 respondents from a convenience sample of 300 residents, not associated with any branch of medicine. Frequency distribution of word images used on at least five occasions and a correspondence analysis of the responses for the ten disciplines. Of the 163 coded image items, 60 were related to internal medicine, 56 to dentistry, 55 to dermatology, 51 to orthopaedic surgery, 51 to ophthalmology, 50 to surgery, 47 to obstetrics and gynaecology, 43 to otolaryngology, 40 to paediatrics and 33 to psychiatry. Correspondence analysis applied to the 163 items and 10 medical disciplines indicated that three similar paired image groups were found, namely between dermatology and ophthalmology, surgery and orthopaedic surgery, and between dentistry and internal medicine, which were the more commonly encountered disciplines across all age groups. However, compared with the other specialities, dentistry had a significantly greater association with pain, this response being four times more common than for surgery. This group of members of the public in Japan perceived dentistry-associated images in a similar way to internal medicine, but the negative associations with pain need to be addressed by the dental profession and health educators alike.