Highly educated patients have lower dental compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic: an observational study
Abstract Background The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is rapidly changed medical habits, and dental clinics have been forced to adapt. This study explored the pandemic-induced changes in patient utilization of dental services to assist practitioners in responding efficiently to sim...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2022-07-01
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| Series: | BMC Oral Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12903-022-02307-x |
| _version_ | 1828268481266581504 |
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| author | Yu-Hsiang Chou Ying-Chu Lin Mei-Hsuan Lee Yu-Ting Huang Pei-Feng Liu Chung-Lin Huang Kai-Fang Hu |
| author_facet | Yu-Hsiang Chou Ying-Chu Lin Mei-Hsuan Lee Yu-Ting Huang Pei-Feng Liu Chung-Lin Huang Kai-Fang Hu |
| author_sort | Yu-Hsiang Chou |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is rapidly changed medical habits, and dental clinics have been forced to adapt. This study explored the pandemic-induced changes in patient utilization of dental services to assist practitioners in responding efficiently to similar public crises as references in the future. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the correlation between patient profiles and dental visits attendance within 2 months before and during the outbreak. Results A total of 332 patients, 210 women and 122 men (total number of visits: 1068) were enrolled in this study. A significantly lower attendance rate was noted during the COVID-19 period (70.3%) than prior to the pandemic (83.4%). The rate of return visits for patients with a high education level during the COVID-19 period was significantly reduced from 96.5 to 93.1%. In addition, the number of days between two visits significantly increased during the pandemic. Conclusions Our results indicate that, during the pandemic period, the attendance rates of return dental appointments decreased, and the rate of missed appointments for patients with a high educational levels was higher than that of patients with a low educational level. Clinical relevance Preventive management of these patients who are easy to miss dental appointments may enable more effective use of medical resources. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T05:19:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-99fae272623b419fa139658ee7d1c2d7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1472-6831 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T05:19:24Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Oral Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-99fae272623b419fa139658ee7d1c2d72022-12-22T03:00:48ZengBMCBMC Oral Health1472-68312022-07-012211710.1186/s12903-022-02307-xHighly educated patients have lower dental compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic: an observational studyYu-Hsiang Chou0Ying-Chu Lin1Mei-Hsuan Lee2Yu-Ting Huang3Pei-Feng Liu4Chung-Lin Huang5Kai-Fang Hu6School of Dentistry, College of Dental Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical UniversitySchool of Dentistry, College of Dental Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical UniversityInstitute of Clinical Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung UniversityDivision of Medical Statistics and Bioinformatics, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical UniversityDepartment of Biomedical Science and Environmental Biology, Kaohsiung Medical UniversityDivision of Periodontics, Department of Dentistry, Kaohsiung Medical University HospitalDivision of Periodontics, Department of Dentistry, Kaohsiung Medical University HospitalAbstract Background The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is rapidly changed medical habits, and dental clinics have been forced to adapt. This study explored the pandemic-induced changes in patient utilization of dental services to assist practitioners in responding efficiently to similar public crises as references in the future. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the correlation between patient profiles and dental visits attendance within 2 months before and during the outbreak. Results A total of 332 patients, 210 women and 122 men (total number of visits: 1068) were enrolled in this study. A significantly lower attendance rate was noted during the COVID-19 period (70.3%) than prior to the pandemic (83.4%). The rate of return visits for patients with a high education level during the COVID-19 period was significantly reduced from 96.5 to 93.1%. In addition, the number of days between two visits significantly increased during the pandemic. Conclusions Our results indicate that, during the pandemic period, the attendance rates of return dental appointments decreased, and the rate of missed appointments for patients with a high educational levels was higher than that of patients with a low educational level. Clinical relevance Preventive management of these patients who are easy to miss dental appointments may enable more effective use of medical resources.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12903-022-02307-xCOVID-19Dental complianceDental appointmentAttendance |
| spellingShingle | Yu-Hsiang Chou Ying-Chu Lin Mei-Hsuan Lee Yu-Ting Huang Pei-Feng Liu Chung-Lin Huang Kai-Fang Hu Highly educated patients have lower dental compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic: an observational study BMC Oral Health COVID-19 Dental compliance Dental appointment Attendance |
| title | Highly educated patients have lower dental compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic: an observational study |
| title_full | Highly educated patients have lower dental compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic: an observational study |
| title_fullStr | Highly educated patients have lower dental compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic: an observational study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Highly educated patients have lower dental compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic: an observational study |
| title_short | Highly educated patients have lower dental compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic: an observational study |
| title_sort | highly educated patients have lower dental compliance during the covid 19 pandemic an observational study |
| topic | COVID-19 Dental compliance Dental appointment Attendance |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12903-022-02307-x |
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