Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34980110›Full record

ArticleBMC medical education2022

Association of problematic Internet use and oral health-related quality of life among medical and dental students.

Halimeh Ghareghol, Mina Pakkhesal, Aliakbar Naghavialhosseini, Amir Reza Ahmadinia, Nasser Behnampour

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC medical education, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
4.7field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Halimeh GharegholSchool of Dentistry, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran.
Mina PakkhesalDental Research Center, Community Oral Health Department, School of Dentistry, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran. m_pakkhesal@yahoo.com.
Aliakbar NaghavialhosseiniDental Research Center, Orthodontics Department, School of Dentistry, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran.
Amir Reza AhmadiniaDental Research Center, Periodontics Department, School of Dentistry, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran.
Nasser BehnampourDepartment of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Health, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran.
Golestan University of Medical Sciences · IRGolestan University · IR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe Internet as a communication tool is an essential component of daily life. Nowadays, problematic Internet use (PIU) has led to various psychosocial problems that can indirectly lead to oral diseases due to neglect of healthy behaviors. Also, college students are a large proportion of Internet users. The present study aimed to determine the association between problematic Internet use and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) among medical and dental students.

methodsA cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study was conducted on medical and dental students in the first and second years of education (basic sciences courses) at the Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Iran, between January and July 2020. The data collection process was carried out in the following sequence: questionnaire on demographic characteristics (age, gender, marital status, academic field, and year); Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire (PIUQ); and Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) questionnaire.

resultsAmong 268 medical and dental students, 171 students (63.81%) [95% confidence interval: 58.02%- 69.60%] had problematic Internet use. The mean PIU score in the first-year was significantly higher than the second-year students. In addition, 65% of single students and 25% of married subjects were dealing with PIU. The statistical difference between mean OHIP scores among PIU students (12.5 ± 2.9), with average Internet usage (7.39 ± 6.6), was significant. The Spearman correlation coefficient between PIU and OHIP was 0.309 and significant (P-value < 0.000001). It indicates that students with higher PIU showed higher OHIP scores.

conclusionThe present study showed that problematic Internet use was significantly associated with oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) among first and second-year medical and dental students. Thus, the students with problematic Internet use experienced a poorer oral health-related quality of life than average Internet users. Furthermore, appropriate preventive and interventional strategies need to be developed to encourage rational use of the Internet to protect the users' oral health, especially among medical and dental students.

Indexed as

Behavior, AddictiveQuality of LifeCross-Sectional StudiesHumansInternetInternet UseStudents, DentalSurveys and QuestionnairesDental studentInternet useMedical studentsOral healthQuality of life

Identifiers

PMID34980110
PMCPMC8722195
OpenAlexW4205093008

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.