치위생(학)과 학생들의 전문직 자아개념과 윤리적 성향이 환자 개인정보보호 실천의지에 미치는 영향

Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate the effect of professional self-concept and ethical awareness of dental hygiene (department) students attending a university located in Gwangju and Jeollanam-do on patients’ willingness to protect personal information. Methods: Professional self-concept, ethical disposition, and patients’ personal information protection intention according to general characteristics were analyzed using t-tests and one-way ANOVA. After confirming the correlation through Pearson’s correlation analysis, the effect on the patient’s personal information protection intention was confirmed using multiple regression analysis. Results: Professional self-concept, ethical disposition, and the patients’ willingness to protect personal information all showed positive correlations. The higher the communication skills of professional self-concept and the higher the idealism of ethical orientation, the higher the patients’ willingness to protect personal information. Conclusions: This study, ascertained the effect of dental hygiene students’ professional self-concept and ethical consciousness on patients’ personal information protection practices. The results suggest that it is necessary to develop an educational program that can enhance the practice of dental hygienists to protect patients’ personal information, and to develop and conduct continuous policy development and research.