Tobacco Dependence Treatment Education for Dental Students

There is a difference in dental students' attitudes, perceived barriers, subjective norms, perceived skills, self-efficacy, intentions to provide cessation treatment, and cessation knowledge in those students receiving a tobacco cessation lecture along with practice sessions using standardized patients and those students receiving only a tobacco cessation lecture. Dental students' use of tobacco does affect their intent to provide cessation treatment to patients. The time between receiving the lecture and participating in the practice sessions using standardized patients makes a difference in dental students' attitudes, perceived barriers, subjective norms. perceived skills, self-efficacy, intentions to provide cessation treatment, and cessation knowledge.

The experimental study has a pretest-posttest design. It evaluates the changes to dental students' attitudes, perceived barriers, subjective norms, perceived skills, self-efficacy, intentions to provide cessation treatment, and tobacco cessation knowledge between those students receiving a lecture along with practice sessions using standardized patients and those students receiving only a lecture. Dental students will be invited to complete two questionnaires. The control group of dental students will complete the first questionnaire before the lecture and the second questionnaire after the lecture. The experimental group of dental students will complete the first questionnaire before the lecture and the second questionnaire after the lecture and the practice and debriefing sessions. Subjects will include 120 first year dental students in an introductory course to clinical dentistry. The cessation training is a required activity in the course. Students are divided into small groups according to their bench or lab numbers. These numbers are assigned to the student based on the alphabetical order of their name. The eligibility criteria is: 1) Must be a first year dental student in Introduction to Clinical Dentistry 1 at the University of Louisville, and 2) Must be willing to volunteer to complete pre- and post-questionnaires about the cessation treatment educational program. The exclusion criteria is: Subject is not willing to give consent to complete the pre- and post- questionnaire.

• Other: Lecture only
  Tobacco cessation treatment educational intervention using lecture only
  Other Names:

  • Tobacco dependence
  • Cessation treatment
  • Tobacco cessation treatment education
  • Standardized patients
  • Cessation counseling
  • Dental students
• Other: Counseling practice sessions
  Dental students will complete the first questionnaire before a tobacco cessation lecture and the second questionnaire after the lecture, counseling practice sessions using standardized patients and a debriefing session.
  Other Names:

  • Tobacco cessation treatment education
  • Tobacco cessation counseling
  • Smoking cessation counseling
  • Tobacco dependence treatment
  • Standardized patients

• Experimental: Counseling practice sessions
  Dental students will be administered the first questionnaire before receiving a tobacco cessation lecture and the second questionnaire after the lecture, counseling practice sessions using standardized patients, and debriefing session.
  Intervention: Other: Counseling practice sessions
• No Intervention: Lecture only
  Dental students will be administered the first questionnaire before the tobacco cessation lecture and the second questionnaire after the lecture and before the counseling practice sessions using standardized patients and debriefing session.
  Intervention: Other: Lecture only

Inclusion Criteria:

• must be a first year dental student in Introduction to Clinical Dentistry I at the University of Louisville and
• volunteer to complete pre- and post-questionnaires concerning tobacco cessation treatment educational training.

Exclusion Criteria:

• subject does not complete pre- and post- questionnaires.