Department of Health Policy and Management, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7411, USA.
J Am Dent Assoc. 2011 May;142(5):518-30. doi: 10.14219/jada.archive.2011.0222.
The authors conducted a national survey to determine the communication techniques that dentists use routinely and variations in their use.
American Dental Association Survey Center staff members mailed an 86-item questionnaire to a random sample of 6,300 U.S. dentists in private practice. Participants reported routine use ("most of the time" or "always") during a typical week of 18 communication techniques, of which seven are basic techniques. The authors used analysis of variance and ordinary least squares regression models to test the association of communication, provider and practice characteristics with the number of techniques.
Dentists routinely use an average of 7.1 of the 18 techniques and 3.1 of the seven basic techniques. Two-thirds or more of dentists used four of the techniques (hand out printed materials, speak slowly, use models or radiographs to explain, use simple language). Less than one-fourth of dentists used any of the techniques in the teach-back method or patient-friendly practice domains. A dentist's age, race/ethnicity, education outside the United States and area of dentistry affected use. Health literacy variables (awareness, education in communication, practice-level change, outcome expectancy) and lack of time were associated with the number of techniques used.
Routine use of all of the communication techniques is low among dentists, including some techniques thought to be most effective with patients with low literacy skills.
Professional education is needed to improve knowledge about communication techniques and to ensure that they are used effectively. A firm foundation for these efforts requires the development, evaluation and dissemination of communication guidelines for dental care professionals.
作者进行了一项全国性调查，以确定牙医常规使用的沟通技巧及其使用方式的差异。
美国牙科协会调查中心的工作人员向 6300 名在美国私人执业的牙医随机样本邮寄了一份包含 86 个项目的问卷。参与者报告了在典型的一周内 18 种沟通技巧中的 7 种基本技巧的常规使用情况（“大部分时间”或“总是”）。作者使用方差分析和普通最小二乘回归模型来测试沟通、提供者和实践特征与技术数量的关联。
牙医通常使用 18 种技术中的 7.1 种，7 种基本技术中的 3.1 种。三分之二或更多的牙医使用了其中的四种技术（分发印刷材料、缓慢说话、使用模型或 X 光片解释、使用简单语言）。不到四分之一的牙医使用过任何一种反馈法或患者友好型实践领域的技术。牙医的年龄、种族/族裔、美国以外的教育和牙科领域影响使用情况。健康素养变量（意识、沟通教育、实践层面的改变、结果预期）和缺乏时间与使用的技术数量有关。
牙医常规使用所有沟通技巧的情况都很低，包括一些被认为对低识字能力患者最有效的技巧。
需要进行专业教育，以提高对沟通技巧的认识，并确保有效地使用这些技巧。这些努力的坚实基础需要为牙科护理专业人员制定、评估和传播沟通指南。
