Practicing dental hygienists' attitudes toward the proposed Advanced Dental Hygiene Practitioner: a pilot study.

PURPOSE The purpose of this pilot study was to assess the attitudes of active registered dental hygienists toward the proposed Advanced Dental Hygiene Practitioner (ADHP). Factors of support/interest in the ADHP concept, level of practice, and socio-demographics were examined. METHODS In 2007, a self-administered questionnaire was mailed to 1,562 active registered dental hygienists in Colorado, Kentucky, and North Carolina, states with diverse practice acts. The quantitative analysis included descriptive statistics, Mantel Haenszel for Likert-scaled responses, and chi-square to compare nominal responses. All of the survey questions were qualitatively reviewed. RESULTS The response rate was 29% (n = 442), with 45% (n=196) of respondents indicating they had not heard of the proposed ADHP prior to receiving this survey. Overall level of support for the proposed ADHP as indicated by both very supportive and somewhat supportive responses was 87% (n=129) in Colorado, 82% (n=64) in Kentucky, and 92% (n=196) in North Carolina. Overall level of interest for the proposed ADHP as indicated by both very interested and somewhat interested responses was 74% (n=109) in Colorado, 71% (n=55) in Kentucky, and 81% (n=170) in North Carolina. A significant difference was found among respondents interested in becoming an ADHP and those not interested (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS Among the 3 states, a higher overall level of support for the proposed ADHP was indicated compared to the overall level of interest. Although the state practice acts vary, these findings suggest that the level of support/interest in the proposed ADHP does not differ among respondents.