Table 3.
Dental students’ awareness on professional responsibility items and clinical practices towards tobacco cessation counselling (TCC).
| Item | No. (%) of ‘Yes’ |
|---|---|
| Awareness: professional responsibility | |
| No tobacco cessation counselling is needed (n = 203) | 14 (6.9%) |
| Giving tobacco cessation advice verbally (n = 203) | 201 (99.0%) |
| Distributing leaflets or pamphlets (n = 203) | 187 (92.1%) |
| Giving out the hotline for the Tobacco Control Office (n = 203) | 181 (89.2%) |
| Writing a referral letter to the Tobacco Control Office (n = 203) | 138 (68.0%) |
| Prescribing nicotine replacement therapy (n = 200) | 47 (23.5%) |
| Preparedness: clinical practices of all students | |
| I take tobacco usage histories from all patients (n = 206) | 198 (96.1%) |
| I ask patients about their tobacco usage status at the first appointment (n = 206) | 206 (100.0%) |
| I always document patient tobacco use history in patient folders (n = 206) | 192 (93.2%) |
| I update patient smoking history regularly throughout the whole course of treatment for every patient (n = 206) | 101 (49.0%) |
| I have patients who are tobacco users (n = 206) | 162 (78.6%) |
| Preparedness: clinical practices of students with tobacco-using patients | |
| I only mark down patient as a “tobacco user” in the patient folder for tobacco-using patients (n = 163) | 9 (5.5%) |
| I have recorded the amount of tobacco my patients used over the years (e.g., pack year) in the patient folder (n = 163) | 148 (90.8%) |
| I have recorded the type of tobacco in the patient folder (e.g., cigarettes, cigars, e-cigarettes) (n = 160) | 47 (29.4%) |
| I have made an effort to assist a patient to quit tobacco use (n = 160) | 138 (85.2%) |
| I do active TCC regularly throughout the whole course of treatment for every patient (n = 162) | 68 (42.0%) |
| I have succeeded in helping a patient to reduce tobacco consumption (n = 163) | 70 (42.9%) |
| I have succeeded in helping a patient to quit tobacco use completely (n = 160) | 20 (12.5%) |