engleski

Sleep medicine knowledge and attitudes among dental medicine students

Aims: Among different medical experts who manage patients suffering from sleep disordered breathing (SDB), dental medicine doctors should have an important role in screening, diagnosing and treatment of SDB. The purpose of the present study was to assess attitudes and knowledge about sleep medicine among Croatian dental medicine students, depending on the attendance of the sleep medicine classes. Methods: A total of 444 dental medicine students from Universities of Zagreb and Split (333 from Zagreb, and 111 from Split) completed the Croatian-language version of the ASKME survey questionnaire regarding knowledge (30 items) and attitudes (11 items) about sleep medicine, and demographics of the study participants. Knowledge and attitudes were compared between students who attended 6 hours of sleep medicine classes during the Neuroscience course (85 students, 19.1%) and those who did not attend sleep medicine classes (359 students, 80.9%). Results: Students educated on sleep medicine had significantly better knowledge compared to those not educated in the field of sleep medicine (P=0.002). There was no significant difference in the total attitude score between students who attended and those who did not attend sleep medicine classes (38.96±6.26 vs. 38.98±6.15, respectively ; P=0.492). Moreover, a significant positive correlation was found between knowledge and sleep medicine attitudes in students who attended sleep medicine classes (r=0.24, P=0.028). Conclusions: The Croatian-language version of the ASKME survey revealed insufficient sleep medicine knowledge among dental medicine students. However, our findings suggest students’ positive attitudes about sleep medicine, regardless of the attendance to the sleep medicine classes.

Sleep medicine knowledge; sleep medicine attitudes; dental medicine students

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