We are waiting for more data in order to report more precise statistics.
Published on 20/10/97
As promised, we are publishing the results of our first survey. The results are very interesting and quite unexpected. We would like to thank everyone who participated in the survey for their time (vjosurv.htm).
Just a reminder to please consider this data as an initial analysis
and by no means complete.
We are waiting for more data in order to report more precise statistics.
The first question of our survey was about the profession and at the moment, based on 276 VJO readers, it was: 210 orthodontists (76%), 42 general dentists (15%), 14 dental student (5%), and 10 dental technicians (4%).
Geographically, the highest percentages of respondents were in USA (69) 25%, followed by Italy (47) 17%, Mexico (29) 11%, India (20) 7%, Brazil (16) 6%, Canada (15) 5%, Spain (13) 5%, Norway (12) 4%, Belgium (11) 4%, Costa Rica (10) 4%, Columbia (10) 4%, Singapore (9) 4%, Yugoslavia (5), Germany (2), Sweden (2), Switzerland (1), United Kingdom (1), Taiwan (1), Chile (1), Japan (1), Israel (1).
The third question was: How do you rate your knowledge of computers?
| Excellent | 112 | 41% |
| Good | 70 | 25% |
| Average | 80 | 29% |
| Poor | 14 | 5% |
| Very poor | 0 | 0% |
The answer to this question was somewhat expected since readers with
very poor computer knowledge would probably not navigate trough the net and consequently
would not participate in the survey.
It was very interesting to find that 41% of the responders consider their relationship
with the personal computer interface as excellent.
Almost all who responded have computers at home (274) but what kind
of hardware do they have?
Quite updated, since 41% have a 133 MHz, 31% have a 100-120 MHz processor,
14% have a 166 MHz and 6% have the latest 200 MHz MMX processor.
The same is true for modem speed: 42% have 28.800 bps, 25% have 33.600 bps, 11% have
56.000 bps. Unfortunately 22% of respondents did not answer this question. Perhaps the
question wasn't clear enough or maybe the respondents didn't exactly know their modem
speed.
The next question asked where and how they access the internet. 86% of respondents access from home and 13% from the dental office, 1% from other places. They reach the net trough a provider in 73% of cases, but the other 26% are permanently on-line or have free access to internet, (e.g. University Network).
Apparently our respondents prefer to read than to write since they send only 14.1 mails per week but receive 26.1 mails per week. In some cases this difference in messages sent and messages received points out one of the problems of internet: junk mail. Unfortunately some commercial companies abuse the net sending millions of messages with advertising and thereby filling our mailboxes. We ask that you do not support these companies by not buying from them, since this is an invasion of privacy and not an authorized use of this media.
In our small group of respondents who wins the "war of
browsers"? Netscape or Microsoft?
Netscape was the winner with 60% while Microsoft Internet Explorer reached 39%. Apparently
irrelevant, this aspect could be decisive for the future implementation of our journal to
know if our readers own update versions of these programs.
From our data we can see how the latest software releases often run in prosperous and
well-developed countries. On the other hand, countries with financial troubles have old
software versions. This is in contrast to the hardware, which is good and recent.
To the question "how often do you usually browse the
WWW?" our respondents replied: 72% daily, 24% weekly, and 4% more than once a day.
But how long do they browse or surf the web ? 53% from 1hour to 4 hours, 46% from 15
minutes to 1 hour, and 1% from 0 to 15 minutes.
One of the unclear results of this first data analysis is related to
the dental mailing list. In fact 70% of our respondents don't use dental mailing lists,
29% know and use the ESCO, and 1% use the "Ontario" and the "dental
material" mailing list. In our opinion these mailing lists are useful and well
directed so we don't quite understand the reasons for this disinterest.
The primary use of the net appears to be: obtaining information. Only 5% actually take education courses on the net. Advertising or ordering products on the net are neither necessary, nor important.
| Communicating with patients | 1% |
| Obtaining diagnostic or therapeutic information for patient care | 41% |
| Marketing my practice | 15% |
| Obtaining information regarding dental associations, meetings, congresses | 51% |
| Research and buying dental products | 15% |
| Taking continuing education courses | 5% |
| Other | 0% |
How easy is finding information on the Internet?
These were the answers: 59% easy, 30% not so easy, 10% very easy, 1% not easy at all.
Considering the fact that our group is technologically well prepared, this 30% who found it "not so easy" raises the question of the opportunity to conceive thematic filters and selective search engines.
Question number 15 specifically addresses continuing education courses over the internet. In the future, would there be interest to participate on this topic.
| Yes | 220 | 80% |
| No | 56 | 20% |
We also asked what courses would be preferred, and they were:
| Practice management | functional appliances |
| clinical outcomes research | posture |
| diagnosis and treatment planning | biomechanics |
| tmj disorders | case finishing |
| orthopaedics | edgewise standard |
| computers application | latest product update |
| single appliance course | craniofacial biology |
| retention | stability |
| growth and development | infection control |
| class II treatment | periodontics |
| early treatment | cephalometrics |
Conclusions
From this initial analysis, we have noted a professional interest toward the use of the net for updating orthodontic knowledge. At times it appears that finding the right information on the net may not be very easy. However, extensive use of the net permits some positive provisions for the future, such as continuing education courses or other information regarding upcoming meetings and conferences.