The use of information and communication technologies in Latin American dentists: a cross-sectional study from Ecuador

Abstract

Background: The use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) provide the tools for enabling fast and reliable real-time communications, as well as the transfer of information between dental professionals and their patients. However, little is known about the frequency and preference of ICTs among Latin-American dentists. Our study aims to fill this gap by assessing different aspects related to ICTs, mainly the frequency of use, perceptions, and barriers among Ecuadorian dentists.

Methods: An anonymous, cross-sectional survey-based study was conducted among 342 Ecuadorian dentists. The final questionnaire included 13 items related to the frequency of use, perceptions, and barriers of ICTs. Bivariate analysis was performed by using chi-squared testing to explore the association between the independent variables and the intended use of ICTs, as well as to characterize the perceptions and barriers related to ICTs.

Results: In general, most participants reported the use of ICTs to communicate with colleagues (99.7%), and patients (96.2%), while only 63.5% reported using ICTs to obtain academic information in their daily practice. WhatsApp was rated as the most used ICT for communicating with colleagues and patients. A majority of participants considered that ICTs can be useful for facilitating continuing dental education (92.1%), searching new work opportunities (91.5%), promoting health (90.1%), working with colleagues and other health professionals (91.2%), promoting their professional services (90.6%), and for resolving clinical cases (87.7%). On the subject of barriers, privacy and security concerns about personal and/or patient information was the biggest concern among dentists (65%), followed by lack of time to learn how to use and/or use ICTs (48%), lack of mobile internet access (28.1%), and lack of internet access at work (24.9%).

Conclusion: In our study, we found that Ecuadorian dentists had a high usage rate of ICTs, mainly for communicating with other colleagues and patients, while the academic use of technology remains a comparatively underused application. Most of the participants surveyed had a positive perception towards ICTs, while privacy and security concerns were identified as the main barrier. Older age was associated with a less favourable perception toward ICTs, as well as an increased likelihood of reporting barriers related to the use of technology.

Keywords: Dentists; Ecuador; Information and communication technologies; Latin America; Social media.

Fig. 1

Frequency of use of information and communication technologies for academic purposes, and patient/colleague communication and interaction among Ecuadorian dentists

Fig. 2

Perceptions of information and communication technologies among Ecuadorian dentists. Each perception is represented by one vertex. All proportions depicted are individuals that agree with the statement. I, “ICTs facilitate continuing dental education” II, “ICTs are useful to search for new work opportunities” III, “ICTs are useful for health promotion” IV, “ICTs are useful for working with colleagues and other health professionals” V, “Prefer ICTs to traditional channels of communication” VI, “ICTs are useful for promoting my professional services” VII, “ICTs can be useful for resolving clinical cases”

Fig. 3

Barriers of information and communication technologies among Ecuadorian dentists. Each barrier is represented by one vertex. All proportions depicted are individuals that agree with the statement. I, ‘Concerned about privacy or security about personal and/or patient information’ II, ‘Do not have access to mobile internet’ III, ‘Do not have access to the internet at work’ IV, ‘Do not have enough time to neither learn how to use them or use them’