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Biomedical subjects

C Kunzel

Publications and source records attributed to C Kunzel.

27 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Toward a typology of preventively oriented dentists.

This study identifies predictors of preventive behavior among dental general practitioners in New York State. A total of 217 clinicians was interviewed by telephone. Dentists practicing in an urban area (n = 120) and in a rural area (n = 97) were studied. A unit-weighted index of clinician preventive orientation was created, by summing z-score values for two preventive variables: the number of content items and the number of patient visits in an organized preventive program that entailed more than one visit. Multiple regression of this preventive orientation index on selected independent variables showed that, for the entire sample, variables representing involvement in academic and institutional dentistry, exposure to education through journals and courses, a predeliction for innovation, and the presence of a hygienist in the office, were most influential in creating a model that successfully predicted reported preventive behavior. Differences between urban and rural clinicians in predictors of preventive behavior are also identified. Data collected are compared with those of four previous studies that attempted to describe potential predictors of preventive behavior in dentists.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1987

Dentists' consulting behavior and associated knowledge levels.

Telephone interviews with stratified random samples of urban and rural dental general practitioners (GPU, n = 120; GPR, n = 97) and oral surgeons (OS, n = 105) in New York State indicated that requests for expertise, additional data, confirmation of patient's medical status, or medico-legal issues were frequent motives for requesting a consult. Those who consulted more frequently had lower mean knowledge scores than those who consulted less frequently, suggesting that the quality of patient care is potentially improved via the consulting process.

Data Collection↗
PubMed1986

How oral surgeons learn: an epistemological investigation.

The elements of knowledge required for the successful management of patients at high risk for bacterial endocarditis were used to construct a scale that was the dependent variable in a study designed to investigate factors influencing the knowledge level of oral surgeons. A telephone interview was used to collect data from a sample of New York State members of he AAOMS. Analyses of these data showed comparatively high knowledge levels among respondents. Variations in knowledge were accounted for by age, access to highly reviewed journals, career patterns that maximized the opportunity for continuous professional interaction with colleagues, and a predilection for being up-to-date. The latter, in turn, was correlated with additional opportunities for integration into a community of oral surgeons.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1985

Predictors of dentists' level of knowledge regarding the recommended prophylactic regimen for patients with rheumatic heart disease.

Maintaining knowledge of clinical practices, conforming to the latest scientific information, is a major challenge for health professionals. The study aims were to measure clinicians' knowledge and to determine what social factors could best explain and predict those dental clinicians who are most knowledgeable about current expert recommendations for the use of appropriate antibiotic regimens for patients at risk for bacterial endocarditis. Telephone interviews were conducted with 322 New York State dentists, assigned to the study by a computer-generated randomization procedure from lists of oral surgeons, urban general practitioners and rural general practitioners. Data demonstrated extraordinary differences in level of knowledge between oral surgeons and general practitioners, while the level of knowledge between urban and rural general practice groups was quite similar. General Linear Model (GLM)-based analyses indicated that practice size, rationalization of practice, and practice setting and affiliations contributed to the explanation of knowledge level among general practitioners, when adjusted for age. R2s for each of those variables and age, ranged from a low of 0.132 to a high of 0.334. Age made a significant contribution to the explanation of knowledge level in all of the models presented, while the explanatory power of the practice structure variables varied according to respondent's locale (urban vs rural) and age (younger vs older). In order to assess the impact of these structural variables, they were dichotomized (high-low) and entered into a GLM program which accounted for age and locale. Differences in excess of 20 points (on a 0-100 knowledge scale) were sometimes noted.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Age Factors↗
PubMed1985

Educational factors associated with clinician knowledge about bacterial endocarditis.

This study measured the impact of relatively formal educational experiences (general practice residency and continuing education) and a variety of informal educational opportunities (professional membership activities, dental journals received, patterns of consulting and referral) on a particular body of knowledge (dentists' knowledge about the management of patients at risk for bacterial endocarditis). Data were collected through telephone interviews with 217 dental general practitioners in New York State. Linear regression analyses indicated that age made a significant contribution to the explanation of knowledge level in all models tested. Neither general practice residency experiences nor continuing education exposure in the past year made a significant contribution to the explanation of knowledge. The other more informal educational variables tested sometimes made a significant contribution when controlled for age; however, the explanatory power of these variables often varied according to respondents' locale (urban vs. rural).

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Clinician compliance and the prevention of bacterial endocarditis.

Analysis of our data indicates confusion about, and lack of compliance with, the AHA recommendations. Clinician level of knowledge varies with issues of risk management and by specialty group membership. Patient groups that are particularly problematic include children and all patients with congenital heart disease, those receiving a continuing antibiotic regimen for secondary prevention of rheumatic fever, those with a penicillin allergy, and those with prosthetic heart valves. Another area of clinician uncertainty concerns dental procedures which may or may not be associated with the possible causation of bacterial endocarditis. The biodynamic principles involved in endocarditis are central to the structure of the AHA recommendations. These principles, as well as those which provide theoretical support for the loading dose, timing, sequence, and duration recommended by the AHA, have been presented with the hope that clinician compliance with these recommendations will be increased.

Adult↗