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A survey of dental practitioners on their use of electronic mail
R Muhumuza1, D R Moles, R Bedi
1National Centre for Transcultural Oral Health, WHO Collaborating Centre for Disability, Culture and Oral Health, Eastman Dental Institute for Oral Health Care Science, University of London.
Objectives:
To assess the feasibility of using electronic-mail as a tool for surveying dental practitioners; to determine both response rates and response times for this method; and provide baseline information on e-mail usage.
Method:
Self-administered questionnaire distributed by e-mail to 309 practitioners on Monday morning, 1 June 1998.
Results:
53.4% response rate within 1 month; 10.2% of replies were sent within 2 hours; and nearly half the replies were sent within 48 hours. Qualified dentists were more likely to respond early than undergraduates. The most popular point of access for e-mail was home (69.1%). The majority of responders (56.8%) use e-mail every day with 1 in 7 (14.2%) using it at least four times a day. 72.4% stated that they found e-mail useful for communicating with professional bodies, while 41.3% used it to communicate with colleagues about patients and patient referrals. 34.0% found e-mail useful for ordering goods, and supplies and 14.6% were using electronic mail to make patient appointments at least some of the time.
Conclusions:
Responses can be obtained at much greater speed than conventional postal techniques will allow, but response rates were only 53.4%. E-mail is predominately used at home and for inter-professional communications, only a small proportion of responders use it for direct communication with patients.