Efficacy of an Educational Health Intervention for Oral Cancer Aimed at Dentists and Dental Students

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the efficacy of massive open online courses (MOOCs) for implementing standardized training and teaching with respect to oral cancer among dental students and dentists. In a multicenter interventional randomized controlled trial, a total of 660 Colombian dental students and dentists were randomly assigned to one of three groups between September 2022 and August 2023 by means of the random number table method at ten different institutions involved in dental education. With a loss to follow-up rate of 25%, Group 1 consisted of 107 cases, Group 2 consisted of 177 cases, and the control group consisted of 164 cases. The control group did not receive training, whereas Group 1 received a leaflet, and Group 2 participated in a MOOC-based learning approach. The assessment results of the knowledge, attitudes, and practice scores were observed and compared among the three groups of participants before and 2 months after the intervention. Compared with the control group, Group 2 presented significantly higher scores for KAP (P < 0.05). The group also showed greater improvements in terms of knowledge, attitudes, and practices (P < 0.05) than did the control group. Additionally, the KAP scores of the students in Group 2 were significantly higher than those of the dentists. Group 2 also demonstrated a substantially greater size effect in KAP. The implementation of MOOC teaching was shown to positively affect standardized training and teaching related to oral cancer, thereby enhancing academic performance in this area. Trial registration: ISRCTN48708543.