Halitosis Gingivitis and periodontal diseases
Conditions
Interventions
This is a hybrid, multicenter, prospective, randomized clinical trial controlled by two arms (dentists working in primary health care in municipalities of the 4th CRS, and undergraduate dental student
hybrid"
nature refers to the presence of two randomization designs (parallel and cluster) within the same macro protocol, adapted to the subpopulations of students and professionals. Parallel randomization re
s correction factor indicated the need for 41 participants per group (intervention and control) to detect the effect of d=0.5. The dentists from Primary Care in the 4th Regional Health Coordination wi
horizontal"
contamination of information and practices among professionals working in the same environment. The randomization process will be performed using the statistical software R (version 4.3.
Sponsors
Universidade Federal de Santa Maria
Universidade Federal de Santa Maria
Eligibility
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: Dentists and oral health professionals actively linked to a Primary Health Care Unit or Family Health Strategy in the listed municipalities; availability to read the guide and complete the pre- and post-test questionnaires during the study period; active enrollment in the last semester of the Dentistry course at the participating institutions; presence on the official class attendance list.
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: Exclusively administrative professionals without clinical practice; professionals on extended leave during the intervention window; students who have had prior formal contact with the specific guidelines tested in extracurricular activities that may bias their perception of knowledge and confidence.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| To assess participants' perception and level of confidence when prescribing oral hygiene products for various situations, resulting in a composite score of knowledge and confidence. This continuous quantitative variable will be measured by the arithmetic mean of the responses to questions Q5 (Self-perception of knowledge) and Q6 (Confidence in the indication), both measured using a 5-point Likert scale (ranging from 1="Not confident at all" to 5="Extremely confident"). The outcome will be evaluated at two time points: Baseline (T0: before reading the guide) and Post-Intervention (T1: immediately after reading). The effectiveness metric will be the magnitude of the scores obtained at time T1, adjusted by the baseline values ??(T0) of each participant, allowing the isolation of the real gain attributable to the intervention. The Post-Intervention T1 time point will occur immediately after the completion of the initial questionnaire (T0) and reading of the test and control guides. The data will be processed and analyzed using R software (version 4.3.2) and/or SPSS 29.0, adopting a significance level of 5% and 95% confidence intervals for all estimates. The analysis will follow the Intention-to-Treat principle, ensuring that all randomized participants are considered in the analyses of the groups to which they were originally allocated. As an expected impact of the project on the primary outcome, we have Primary Goal 1 (Knowledge Gain), which aims to achieve a statistically significant increase in the Composite Score of Knowledge and Confidence in the test group compared to the control group (Primary Outcome), validating the educational superiority of the guide. | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Analyze the standardization of decision-making (reduction in the variability of perceptions): assessed by the reduction in the variability (dispersion) of participants' responses in the test group compared to the control group. Lower variability will indicate greater homogeneity and consensus in conduct, suggesting alignment of clinical decisions with evidence-based guidelines. To test the hypothesis that the guideline promotes greater consensus and homogeneity in conduct (reduction of variability), the means will not be compared, but rather the variances of the responses between the groups for questions Q5 and Q6, both measured using a 5-point Likert scale (ranging from 1="Not at all confident" to 5="Extremely confident"). Levene's Test for Homogeneity of Variances or the F-test of variance ratios will be applied to the indication scores (Q6). A significantly lower variance in the test group (p < 0.05) will corroborate the hypothesis of standardization of clinical practice. As expected impacts, the study is expected to demonstrate a significant reduction in the variability (dispersion) of responses regarding product recommendations in the test group.;To assess the acceptability and Intention to Adopt the Guide, measured by probability scores of using the guide in future clinical practice and willingness to recommend it to peers (Questions 3 and 4 of the post-test), reflecting the potential for implementing the tool. This secondary outcome will be analyzed in two ways: if a comparison is made between the groups (intention to use the test guide compared with the control guide), the Mann-Whitney U Test will be used. If an Intragroup Analysis is performed (Test Group only), the median and interquartile range will be calculated, in addition to the proportion of participants with "high intention" (scores 4 and 5 of the responses). The association between intention to use and demographic variables (e.g., sex, time since graduat | — |
Countries
BR
Contacts
Public ContactFabrício Zanatta
Universidade Federal de Santa Maria
Outcome results
None listed