Postgraduate Dental Students' Perceptions of Evidence-Based Dentistry at the University of Benghazi

Abstract

This cross-sectional study investigated perceptions, attitudes, self-reported knowledge, evidence-seeking behavior, and confidence related to Evidence-Based Dentistry (EBD) among postgraduate dental students at the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Benghazi. All 159 enrolled postgraduate students were invited to participate during October-November 2022, and 112 completed the questionnaire, giving a response rate of 70.4%. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire consisting of socio-demographic and educational items and the validated Knowledge, Attitudes, Access, and Confidence Evaluation (KACE) instrument. The KACE instrument comprised 35 items across four domains: knowledge, attitudes, behavior in accessing evidence, and confidence in critical appraisal. Participants showed low EBD knowledge (mean 2.7 +/- 2.2 out of 10), moderately positive attitudes (mean 5.4 +/- 2.6 out of 10), moderate evidence-seeking behavior (mean 10.7 +/- 4.0 out of 18), and fair confidence in critical appraisal (mean 6.4 +/- 3.7 out of 12). The knowledge domain showed a floor effect (21.4%), indicating limited understanding of core EBD concepts or possible item difficulty. Significant differences were observed for knowledge by postgraduate specialty (P = 0.009), attitude by prior research/statistics training (P = 0.002) and current academic level (P = 0.021), and behavior by prior research/statistics training (P = 0.049). These findings indicate a gap between awareness of EBD and its effective implementation. Integrating structured, competency-based EBD education within undergraduate and postgraduate curricula is needed to strengthen evidence-based clinical practice and improve oral health care quality in Libya.