| 摘要: | Background/ purpose:
Patients’ considerations when choosing an orthodontist can be affected by numerous factors including cultural background, ethnic group, and geographical location. Therefore, the main goal of this study is to identify the patients’ considerations when selecting an orthodontist for patients in Malaysia and Taiwan.
Materials and Method:
In this study, we selected 248 dental students from Taipei Medical University and 110 dental students from Manipal University College Malaysia. Participants’ considerations when selecting an orthodontist were assessed using a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire is composed of the participants' demographic characteristics and participant preferences based on clinical setting, orthodontist factor, administration, and impact of social media. The demographic characteristics and participants’ preferences were analyzed and compared using independent t- test, ANOVA, and chi-square for both groups.
Results:
This study shows many significant differences between Malaysian and Taiwanese participants in multiple variables such as orthodontist experience, recommendation, pain-free treatment procedure, total treatment duration, friendly reception, source of receiving orthodontist information, and the types of social media participants usually used. The variable of “person in charge of treatment cost” was significant with the orthodontist’s age, working experience, source of receiving orthodontist information, maximal travel distance, and content posted by an orthodontist in Taiwanese participants while the working experience of orthodontists in Malaysian participants. The gender factor was more significant in considerations of selecting an orthodontist in Malaysian participants than in Taiwanese participants.
Conclusion:
Gender will predominantly influence patient preference among Malaysian patients, while the person in charge of treatment costs will affect patient preference among Taiwanese patients. There are many significant differences between Malaysian and Taiwanese participants regarding the considerations when choosing an orthodontist. |
