The relationship between Facebook behaviour and e-professionalism: A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study among Greek dental students.

INTRODUCTION: The social media attitude of health science students might affect patients' opinion about the health profession and have negative impact on e-professionalism. The aim of this study is to investigate the behaviour of Greek dental students on Facebook, focusing on potentially unprofessional posts and the online student-patient relationship. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Five hundred and twelve dental students in Greece answered an anonymous, 23-item questionnaire including multiple-choice questions about various topics, including Facebook profile settings and content shared by dental students, student-patient relationship via Facebook; and students' perception about the impact of their online behaviour. RESULTS: 93.2% of responders had a Facebook profile and 80.5% admitted that their online attitude might affect patients' opinion about dental profession. However, 71.7% posted pictures from holidays, 41.5% from nightclubs, and 26.2% photographs wearing swimwear/underwear, while 12.8% expressed online political party predilection. One quarter of students in clinical years were Facebook friends with patients and 58% and 30% of them had online discussion about topics related or not to dentistry, respectively, while 6.8% of dental students had posted defamatory comments about the dental school, faculty members or academic staff on Facebook. DISCUSSION: In accordance with studies in other countries, most Greek dental students had a Facebook profile and, although the majority realised the impact of Facebook behaviour on e-professionalism, a considerable percentage posted unprofessional content. CONCLUSION: Dental students might fall into pitfalls when it comes to e-professionalism. As social media are becoming an integral part of life, there is need to include e-professionalism in dental education curriculum.