title: Promoting Oral Health Using Social Media Platforms: Seeking Arabic Online Oral Health Related Information (OHRI).
abstract: Access to oral health care services around the world is limited by a lack of universal coverage. The internet and social media can be an important source for patients to access supplementary oral health related information (OHRI). Online OHRI presents an opportunity to enhance dental public health education about innumerable oral health issues and promote dental self-care. The aim of this study is to estimate the prevalence of social media users among the Saudi population and identify the preferred social media platform for seeking Arabic OHRI and its impact on seekers' knowledge, attitude, and behavior. A total of 2652 Twitter followers were surveyed, using a web-based self-administered questionnaire to collect data on demographic characteristics and online OHRI seeking behavior More than two thirds, 67.7% (n= 1796), of the participants reported they were seeking Arabic online OHRI, while 41.1% of the participants reported they had no preference for using a specific social media platform. These results emphasize the need and importance of supporting the content of social media with trusted and high quality online OHRI resources to promote a high level of public awareness about oral health and dental health services. Further studies in this regard are highly recommended on a larger scale of nationalities to explore the role of social media platform preference in promoting health promotion and dental public health awareness.
authors.affiliation: Riyadh College of Dentistry and Pharmacy, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Almaiman
authors.affiliation: King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz University Hospital, Princess Nora, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Salwa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bahkali
authors.affiliation: King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz University Hospital, Princess Nora, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Norah
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Alabdulatif
authors.affiliation: King Abdulaziz Medical City, Ministry of National Guard, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Ahlam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bahkaly
authors.affiliation: College of Public Health and Health Informatics, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Khaled
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Al-Surimi
authors.affiliation: College of Public Health and Health Informatics, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Mowafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Househ
mesh_terms: D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D057226:Information Seeking Behavior; D020407:Internet; D009909:Oral Health; D012529:Saudi Arabia; D061108:Social Media