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Undergraduate perspectives of the awareness, diagnosis and management of patients with eating disorders

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Abstract

Introduction Patients with eating disorders (EDs) may present with potentially life-threatening complications due to missed and late diagnoses. Dentists can play a fundamental role in the early identification and signposting of patients with suspected EDs.

Aims To investigate the awareness of final-year dental students of the aetiology, diagnosis and management of EDs.

Methods An anonymous electronic questionnaire was distributed to final-year dental students at the University of Manchester. Respondents reported their knowledge, confidence and education related to the management of patients with EDs.

Results Over 50% of students felt they had an above average awareness of the clinical signs and oral manifestations of EDs. The majority of students lacked confidence in discussing a suspected ED diagnosis with patients (75%) and referring them to appropriate services (71%). Additionally, 58% were not confident in planning treatment for and treating a patient with an ED. In total, 100% of students reported that they would benefit from further teaching related to the management of patients with EDs.

Conclusion Participants highlighted the need for further teaching related to the diagnosis and management of patients with EDs. This study supports the development of an educational resource of undergraduate dental students.

Key points

  • Explores undergraduate dental student knowledge of eating disorders.

  • Investigates dental student confidence in the management of patients with eating disorders.

  • Highlights the need for further education of undergraduate dental students on the management of patients with eating disorders.

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Data availability

The data set used to support the findings of this study is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University Dental Hospital of Manchester, Manchester, UK; University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    Jessica Cooper & Siobhan Barry

  2. Charles Clifford Dental Hospital, Sheffield, UK

    Oliver Ryder

Authors
  1. Jessica Cooper
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  2. Oliver Ryder
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  3. Siobhan Barry
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Contributions

Jessica Cooper, Oliver Ryder and Siobhan Barry contributed to study conception and design, data collection and analysis, interpretation of results and draft manuscript preparation. All reviewed the results and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jessica Cooper.

Ethics declarations

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval was granted by the University of Manchester Research Ethics Committee (ref: 2023-15275 27246) and all participants provided informed consent.

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Cooper, J., Ryder, O. & Barry, S. Undergraduate perspectives of the awareness, diagnosis and management of patients with eating disorders. Br Dent J 236, 894–899 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-024-7459-8

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