Biostatistics is becoming an integral part of dental sciences. Awareness regarding the subject is not thoroughly assessed in the field of dentistry. So the study was conducted to assess dental professionals’ knowledge, attitude, and perception toward biostatistics at an academic dental institution. An anonymous cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted among all the faculty and postgraduate students of two dental colleges in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh. The responses were assessed on 5-point likert scale. The survey response rate was 73.71%. Two-thirds of respondents believed biostatistics to be a difficult subject and at the same time half of them did not consider it to be more difficult than other subjects in dentistry. Females were less competent than males in applying biostatistical skills which was found to be statistically significant. Results suggested that dentists with research or academics as an adjunct to their clinical practice had better command over the subject. The current study shows that there is lack of command over the subject of biostatistics among dental professionals although they were aware of its importance in dentistry. There is a need of changing the training pattern of biostatistics for dental professionals which would make them confident enough to apply biostatistics in their clinical practice.
It has become a tough task to remain updated with the dental literature as the number of dental publications has increased several folds [
Most of the articles are accompanied by statistics. Presumably, the statistical analysis is presented by the authors to either validate or question their findings or conclusions of particular investigations or the assertions they have made in these articles.
Statistics have become an important tool or instrument in dental research. As such, when they are used judiciously and appropriately, they can shed additional light and clarity upon subjects under study. On the other hand, any tool or instrument can be misused. This can result in confusion and validation because the results or conclusions of the studies are without merit. In these instances, statistics have been used, as we have heard, “as a drunken man uses a lamppost—for support rather than illumination.”
Articles in dental publications frequently include both descriptive and inferential statistics. To a great extent, authors (and editors) of dental publications rely upon professional statisticians who are experts in the field and have more than just a casual familiarity with dentistry. There is a need to figure out the associated dilemmas in concluding the statistical data. The proper use and understanding of statistics are necessary to differentiate between the “gold” and the “dross” [
A study of doctors’ knowledge of these statistical expressions has previously been published [
Statistical knowledge can lead to the attitude of dental professionals towards the subject, but as a whole it depends on their perception about the same. So the objective of this survey was to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and perception of dental professionals towards the biostatistics as it will further help in improving the teaching methods of the subject.
An anonymous cross-sectional questionnaire based survey was conducted in two dental colleges of Moradabad, India, namely, Kothiwal Dental College and Research Centre and Teerthanker Mahaveer Dental College. All the faculty members and postgraduate students were considered eligible for this survey. For this a list of all the faculty members and postgraduate students was made along with details of their telephone numbers and e-mail addresses. Questionnaire was administered to each of the eligible members in person by the researcher. A week time was given to all the participants to fill up the questionnaire and in between reminders were sent either by telephonic conversation or by e-mail after which they were collected by the researcher only. Questions using 5-point Likert scales which were adapted from validated existing surveys that addressed medical clinicians’ attitudes toward biostatistics were used [
Questionnaire to assess perceptions towards biostatistics.
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Gender: | Department: | ||||
Academic position: | |||||
Career focus: Clinical, nonacademic □ Clinical, academic □ | Research □ | Others □ | |||
Strongly |
Disagree | Neutral | Agree | Strongly | |
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General perceptions |
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Biostatistics is a difficult subject |
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Biostatistics is more difficult than any other subject in dental training |
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Biostatistics would be more helpful for teachers and consultants if they understood dentistry |
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Within the dental field, biostatisticians have high status |
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It would benefit my career to better understand biostatistics |
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Perceptions of knowledge and training |
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My training in biostatistics is adequate for my needs |
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The current level of training in biostatistics in dentistry is adequate |
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My previous biostatistics coursework was taught effectively |
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I am able to tell when the correct statistical method has been applied in my study |
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I am able to design my own research projects with confidence |
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I am able to conduct my own statistical analyses with confidence |
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Perceptions of biostatistics and research |
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Biostatistics should be an integral part of most research |
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Biostatistics is a necessary skill for a clinician involved in research |
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Biostatistics is a necessary skill for a clinician not involved in research |
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Biostatisticians are not necessary for most research |
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Perceptions of biostatisticians and evidence based dentistry |
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Biostatistics is an important part of evidence based dentistry |
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Knowledge of biostatistics is necessary when evaluating dental literature |
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Evidence based dentistry is important for clinical practice |
The survey response rate was 73.71% (258/350). Response rates differed by academic position, with a significantly lower response rate among teaching faculty (54.73% versus 87.62% among postgraduate students;
Distribution of survey respondents.
Demographic | Number (%) of respondents |
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Gender | |
Male | 142 (55.04%) |
Female | 116 (44.96%) |
Academic position | |
Staff | 81 (31.4%) |
PG students | 177 (68.6%) |
Career focus | |
Clinical, academic | 149 (57.7%) |
Clinical, nonacademic | 45 (17.5%) |
Research | 58 (22.5%) |
Others | 6 (2.3%) |
Department | |
Conservative and endodontics | 32 (12.4%) |
Oral medicine and radiology | 28 (10.8%) |
Oral pathology and microbiology | 27 (10.5%) |
Orthodontics | 30 (11.6%) |
Oral and maxillofacial surgery | 25 (9.78%) |
Pedodontics | 26 (10.1%) |
Periodontics | 29 (11.2%) |
Public health dentistry | 27 (10.5%) |
Prosthodontics | 34 (13.2%) |
Responses to each of the individual survey questions are presented in Table
Survey responses of dentists towards biostatistics.
Question | Number (%) | ||||
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Strongly |
Disagree | Neutral | Agree | Strongly | |
General perceptions | |||||
Biostatistics is a difficult subject | 16 (6.2) | 58 (22.5) | 18 (7.0) | 140 (54.2) | 26 (10.1) |
Biostatistics is more difficult than any other subject in dental training | 34 (13.2) | 104 (40.3) | 40 (15.5) | 53 (20.5) | 27 (10.5) |
Biostatistics would be more helpful for teachers and consultants if they understood dentistry | 17 (6.6) | 13 (5.0) | 65 (25.2) | 119 (46.f1) | 44 (17.1) |
Within the dental field, biostatisticians have high status | 17 (6.6) | 31 (12.0) | 92 (35.7) | 103 (39.9) | 15 (5.8) |
It would benefit my career to better understand biostatistics | 5 (1.9) | 16 (6.2) | 57 (22.1) | 138 (53.5) | 42 (16.3) |
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Perceptions of knowledge and training | |||||
My training in biostatistics is adequate for my needs | 13 (5.1) | 101 (39.1) | 77 (29.8) | 62 (24.1) | 5 (1.9) |
The current level of training in biostatistics in dentistry is adequate | 33 (12.8) | 102 (39.5) | 53 (20.5) | 69 (26.8) | 1 (0.4) |
My previous biostatistics coursework was taught effectively | 11 (4.3) | 105 (40.7) | 81 (31.4) | 58 (22.5) | 3 (1.1) |
I am able to tell when the correct statistical method has been applied in my study | 13 (5.1) | 94 (36.4) | 73 (28.3) | 74 (28.7) | 4 (1.5) |
I am able to design my own research projects with confidence | 20 (7.8) | 95 (36.8) | 62 (24.1) | 78 (30.2) | 3 (1.1) |
I am able to conduct my own statistical analyses with confidence | 16 (6.2) | 119 (46.1) | 78 (30.2) | 43 (16.7) | 2 (0.8) |
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Perceptions of biostatistics and research | |||||
Biostatistics should be an integral part of most research | 3 (1.1) | 16 (6.2) | 58 (22.5) | 124 (48.1) | 57 (22.1) |
Biostatistics is a necessary skill for a clinician involved in research | 4 (1.6) | 17 (6.6) | 53 (20.5) | 119 (46.1) | 65 (25.2) |
Biostatistics is a necessary skill for a clinician not involved in research | 13 (5.1) | 95 (36.8) | 104 (40.3) | 41 (15.9) | 5 (1.9) |
Biostatisticians are not necessary for most research | 62 (24.1) | 104 (40.3) | 57 (22.1) | 31 (12.0) | 4 (1.5) |
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Perceptions of biostatisticians and evidence based dentistry | |||||
Biostatistics is an important part of evidence based dentistry | 13 (5.1) | 16 (6.2) | 32 (12.4) | 140 (54.2) | 57 (22.1) |
Knowledge of biostatistics is necessary when evaluating dental literature | 5 (1.9) | 20 (7.8) | 40 (15.5) | 135 (52.3) | 58 (22.5) |
Evidence based dentistry is important for clinical practice | 11 (4.3) | 14 (5.4) | 37 (14.3) | 141 (54.8) | 55 (21.2) |
Only 26.0% of respondents reported that their training in biostatistics was adequate for their needs whereas 27.2% felt that their current level of training in biostatistics in dentistry is adequate and only 23.6% thought their biostatistics coursework had been taught effectively. A total of 30.2% of respondents agreed that they could identify when correct statistical methods had been applied in a study and 31.3% of respondents believed they could design their own research projects with confidence, and 17.5% respondents were confident that they can conduct their own statistical analyses with confidence.
Around 71.2% of respondents agreed that biostatistics should be an integral part of research and the same proportion of respondents feels that it is a necessary skill for research purposes. The majority of respondents (71.3%) felt that knowledge of biostatistics is necessary while evaluating dental literature.
More female respondents (70.7%) in comparison to male respondents (56.3%) felt that biostatistics was a tough subject (
There was no statistical difference in their agreement on biostatistics being a difficult subject (
Career focus affected the response of the questions as there were highly statistically significant differences among the clinical academic respondents, clinical nonacademic respondents, and research respondents. There were very few respondents who had other career focuses which are not considered here. Apart from research respondents the rest of respondents felt that biostatistics was a tough subject (
Analysis of perception of knowledge by gender, career focus, and academic position.
I am able to | I am able to conduct | ||||||
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Biostatistics is a difficult | design my own | my own statistical | |||||
subject | research projects | analyses with | |||||
with confidence | confidence | ||||||
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Gender | Male | 80 (56.3) | 0.03 | 53 (37.3) | 0.06 | 29 (20.4) | 0.01 |
Female | 82 (70.7) | 22 (18.9) | 16 (13.8) | ||||
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Academic position | Staff | 46 (56.8) | 0.1 | 32 (39.5) | <0.001 | 24 (29.6) | <0.001 |
PG students | 109 (61.6) | 48 (27.1) | 23 (13.0) | ||||
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Career focus | Clinical academic | 114 (76.5) | <0.001 | 44 (29.5) | <0.001 | 21 (14.1) | 0.005 |
Clinical nonacademic | 40 (88.9) | 8 (17.8) | 6 (13.3) | ||||
Research | 4 (6.9) | 28 (48.3) | 24 (41.4) |
The results of our study suggest that though more than half of the respondents understand the importance of the subject and also believe that knowing the subject will be beneficial for their career along this the same amount of respondents feels that biostatistics is a difficult subject when placed next to other disciplines of dentistry; it is relegated to a supporting role. This indicates that teaching of biostatistics as a separate entity is unlikely to change the scenario. So more integrated approaches that demonstrate how biostatistics can affect patient care decisions, as suggested in other studies, may be more effective [
The study showed that a very small proportion of respondents were confident enough in designing their own research projects and performing statistical analysis. Our results were in agreement with Wulff et al. [
Respondents’ evaluation of biostatistics as an important element of evidence based dentistry suggested that EBD may represent an ideal vehicle for improved teaching of biostatistics. Unfortunately, many biostatisticians appear relatively unaware of the EBD movement and do not use the successful EBD integration techniques in their teaching. Similarly, EBD has not fully embraced the teaching of statistical methods, preferring to focus instead on epidemiological principles [
Possible solutions to the limitations in teaching biostatistics identified by our respondents can be incorporation of problem based learning into biostatistics course which can be quite helpful. There should be a student-centred approach, substantial student involvement/engagement, and heavy emphasis on application [
Our study results could be affected by response bias as the demographic data was not available for nonrespondents. Another limitation is that the survey has been limited to a single private dental institution so it cannot be generalized as there would be variations in responses of government institutions. This is the first study representing the perceptions of dental professionals towards biostatistics. Further research is needed to identify effective methods that will transform their perceptions towards the subject.
The current study shows that there is lack of command over the subject of biostatistics among dental professionals although they were aware of its importance in dentistry. The fact that only 23.6% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that their biostatistics courses were taught effectively suggests that there is a need of changing the training pattern of biostatistics for dental professionals which would make them confident enough to apply biostatistics in their clinical practice.
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper.