The relationship between Facebook behaviour and e‐professionalism: A questionnaire‐based cross‐sectional study among Greek dental students

Abstract

Introduction The social media attitude of health science students might affect patients' opinion about the health profession and have negative impact on e‐professionalism. The aim of this study is to investigate the behaviour of Greek dental students on Facebook, focusing on potentially unprofessional posts and the online student‐patient relationship. Materials and methods Five hundred and twelve dental students in Greece answered an anonymous, 23‐item questionnaire including multiple‐choice questions about various topics, including Facebook profile settings and content shared by dental students, student‐patient relationship via Facebook; and students' perception about the impact of their online behaviour. Results 93.2% of responders had a Facebook profile and 80.5% admitted that their online attitude might affect patients' opinion about dental profession. However, 71.7% posted pictures from holidays, 41.5% from nightclubs, and 26.2% photographs wearing swimwear/underwear, while 12.8% expressed online political party predilection. One quarter of students in clinical years were Facebook friends with patients and 58% and 30% of them had online discussion about topics related or not to dentistry, respectively, while 6.8% of dental students had posted defamatory comments about the dental school, faculty members or academic staff on Facebook. Discussion In accordance with studies in other countries, most Greek dental students had a Facebook profile and, although the majority realised the impact of Facebook behaviour on e‐professionalism, a considerable percentage posted unprofessional content. Conclusion Dental students might fall into pitfalls when it comes to e‐professionalism. As social media are becoming an integral part of life, there is need to include e‐professionalism in dental education curriculum.

Dangers and Benefits of Social Media on E-Professionalism of Health Care Professionals: Scoping Review

“…Among 88 studies, 49 were quantitative [ 32 , 33 , 35 , 38 - 43 , 51 - 53 , 55 , 59 - 61 , 64 , 66 - 69 , 71 , 72 , 74 , 75 , 77 - 80 , 82 , 85 , 88 , 89 , 91 , 94 - 96 , 98 , 100 , 102 , 105 - 108 , 110 , 113 , 114 , 116 , 118 ], 12 were qualitative [ 34 , 36 , 44 , 45 , 49 , 57 , 73 , 76 , 92 , 93 , 101 , 104 ], and 27 used mixed methods [ 35 , 37 , 46 - 48 , 50 , 54 , 56 , 58 , 62 , 63 , 65 , 70 , 81 , 83 , 84 , 86 , 87 , 90 , 97 , 99 , …”

“…Studies that assessed SM use among different types of HCPs found high use among students, from 66.9% to 98.7% [ 40 , 43 , 50 , 51 , 60 , 61 , 64 - 66 , 68 - 70 , 102 ]; the highest with 98.7% using Facebook at least once a week was established among dental students. Lower rates of use were seen in practicing HCPs, physicians of different specialties, and program directors (PDs) or faculty, mostly ranging from 50% to 80% [ 35 , 39 , 74 , 80 , 83 , 85 , 86 , 88 , 89 , 91 , 96 , 105 , 106 , 108 , 110 , 113 , 114 ].…”

“…Studies showed privacy settings deployment from 71% to 97% among HCPs [ 40 , 42 , 65 , 66 , 68 , 96 , 100 , 115 , 117 , 118 ]. Only 4 studies explicitly stated the percentage of students who had set their Facebook account on private: 37% of pharmacy students [ 40 ], 83.6% and 91% of dental students [ 64 , 65 ], and 71% of medical students [ 42 ]. More students than faculty used privacy features [ 115 , 118 ].…”

Online Professionalism of Facebook Usage in Dental Education

“…These issues were also found in previous studies. [ 3 11 , 17 18 ] However, the percentage of these accounts was not quite high, and the students were likely to share patient information with positive purposes, such as to share knowledge or to get comments about their works. The clearly unprofessional content to be concerned was “Parody content of patients” and “Complaint about patients,” which could negatively affect perceptions of patients toward dental students.…”

“…However, this problem was likely to be the common unprofessionalism in other researches. [ 3 4 , 8 9 , 18 21 ] As alcohol consumption was considered as a health-destructive behavior and healthcare professionals were expected to be a role model,[ 19 ] posts of students drinking alcohol would negatively affect their images and therefore it was considered as unprofessionalism.…”