Accessibility of Patients With Special Healthcare Needs to Dental Care in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia: A Multicentre Study From Perspective of Caregiver and Dental Care Providers.

Autor: Ezzeldin T; Saudi Board Pediatric Dentistry Program, Dammam Specialised Dental Centre, Dammam Medical Complex, Dammam, Saudi Arabia., Algahtani M; Pediatric Dentistry, Department of Preventive Dentistry, College of Dentistry, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia., Alghannam NA; Saudi Board Restorative Dentistry Program, Alahsa Dental Centre, Ministry of Health, Alahsa, Saudi Arabia., Alsafran FA; Pediatric Dentistry, King Fahad Specialist Hospital, Dammam, Saudi Arabia., Siddiqui IA; Dental Education, College of Dentistry, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia., Al-Ghanim HZ; Pediatric Dentistry, Dammam Specialized Dental Centre, Dammam Medical Complex, Dammam, Saudi Arabia., Bader BM; General Dentistry, Dammam Specialized Dental Centre, Dammam Medical Complex, Dammam, Saudi Arabia., Alshubat AA; Pediatric Dentistry, Alahsa Dental Centre, Ministry of Health, Alahsa, Saudi Arabia., Almarry AH; Pediatric Dentistry, Alahsa Dental Centre, Ministry of Health, Alahsa, Saudi Arabia., IbnAhmed HH; Special Care Dentistry, Dammam Specialized Dental Centre, Dammam Medical Complex, Dammam, Saudi Arabia., Kanakri SA; General Dentistry, King Fahad Specialist Hospital, Dammam, Saudi Arabia., Eltayeb RB; Pediatric Dentistry, Alahsa Dental Centre, Ministry of Health, Alahsa, Saudi Arabia., Almuaybid MI; Family Dentistry, Alahsa Dental Centre, Ministry of Health, Alahsa, Saudi Arabia., Al-Wasi KA; Saudi Board Endodontics Program, Dammam Specialized Dental Centre, Dammam Medical Complex, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: TheScientificWorldJournal [ScientificWorldJournal] 2024 Sep 30; Vol. 2024, pp. 6905689. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Sep 30 (Print Publication: 2024).
DOI: 10.1155/2024/6905689
Abstrakt: Dental care accessibility is subject to a dentist's qualification, practice and intention to treat patients, regardless of whether those patients have special healthcare needs (SCN) and should receive treatment in a dental setting. This multicentre study aimed to evaluate the characteristics of patients with SCN, their access to dental care and behaviour towards dental care from their caregiver's perspective. In addition, the perspective of dental care providers who care for patients with SCN and the factors affecting the provision of treatment was also appraised. The Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia served as the site of this cross-sectional study from 1 February 2020 to 31 January 2022. Caregivers of 272 patients with SCN, regardless of age and gender, were recruited in the study. The caregiver's proforma sought information on the demographic characteristics, type of disability, cooperation, medical history, occupation of the parent and patient's behaviour towards oral hygiene and dental healthcare. The second proforma had the dental care provider's perspective about the common disabilities, factors that affect the decision to provide treatment, difficulties patients face in getting their dental treatment and, from the dentist's experience, recommendations to improve the access to dental care for patients with SCN. Statistical analysis was carried out by using SPSS version 22.0. The demographic features, caregiver's perception about oral healthcare accessibility and dental professional's point of view were presented as frequencies and percentages. Chi-square test was applied to compare the proportions. The majority of the caregivers were satisfied with the dental service providers (91.9%) for their patients with SCN. The dental care provider's survey results indicated a shortage of dentists (54.7%) in the region and other factors that pose challenges to special care, like the severity of the disability of patients with SCN (50%), family structure (46.7%), treatment cost (35.6%) and transportation (32.8%). Patients with SCN in Saudi Arabia had a high appraisal of access to dental care and were very satisfied with dental treatment results. However, the presence of a dental care provider in the same rehabilitation centre was a major concern. The severity of the disability and the patient's cooperation were the major factors that may have affected the decision of the dental care provider.
Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
(Copyright © 2024 Tarek Ezzeldin et al.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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