Attentional tunnelling in French dental and hospital practitioners

Impact of Attentional Tunneling or the "Tunnel Effect" in Dentistry. Multi-centre Cross-sectional Study of a Population of French Practitioners.

Observational Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice · NCT07266909

This project will test how common attentional tunnelling is and how it affects clinical decisions among French dental surgeons, university hospital practitioners, and interns.

Quick facts

Study typeObservational
Enrollment160 (estimated)
Ages18 Years and up
SexAll
SponsorCentre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice Academic / other
Locations1 site (Nice)
Trial IDNCT07266909 on ClinicalTrials.gov

What this trial studies

This observational project gathers responses from university hospital practitioners, practicing dental surgeons, and dental interns using face-to-face or online surveys to measure attentional tunnelling. Participants will respond to scenarios and questionnaires designed to reveal excessive focus on single clinical elements and any related decision-making errors. Collected data will be analyzed to describe prevalence and patterns across practitioner types and clinical contexts. The goal is to provide evidence to guide awareness and training efforts to reduce cognitive bias in dental care.

Who should consider this trial

Good fit: Ideal participants are French dental practitioners and trainees: university hospital faculty (professors, associate professors), practicing dental surgeons, and dental interns (DES MBD and ODF).

Not a fit: Dental students are explicitly excluded and will not participate or benefit directly from this project.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, the findings could help reduce diagnostic and surgical errors in dental care by informing targeted training and awareness programs.

How similar studies have performed: Previous work in broader healthcare settings has shown attentional tunnelling contributes to errors, but dental-specific research is limited and this project is relatively novel for dentistry.

Eligibility criteria

Show full inclusion / exclusion criteria
Inclusion Criteria:

* University hospital practitioner (professor, associate professor, ...)
* Dental surgeon (outside university hospitals
* Intern (DES MBD and ODF).

Exclusion Criteria:

* Students.

Where this trial is running

Nice

Study contacts

How to participate

  1. Review the eligibility criteria above with your treating physician.
  2. Visit the official trial page on ClinicalTrials.gov for the most current contact information and recruitment status.
  3. Contact the listed study coordinator or principal investigator to request pre-screening. Pre-screening is free and never obligates you to enroll.
Conditions AwarenessAttention
Last reviewed 2026-06-13 by the Find a Trial editorial team. Information on this page is for educational purposes and is not medical advice. Always consult qualified healthcare professionals about clinical trial participation.