Physicians' awareness of oral-systemic links and its association with physician-reported patient referral to dentists.
<h4>Introduction</h4>Physicians promote oral health by screening for oral pathologies, providing emergency help, and referring patients to dentists. The literature consistently reports a robust association between periodontal disease and systemic diseases. However, it is not fully known...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2022-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0276479 |
| _version_ | 1797989578932486144 |
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| author | Fatimah Al-Habib Fatimah Al Abdulbaqi Hala Alibrahim Yasmin Alhamdan Muhammad Ashraf Nazir Jehan AlHumaid |
| author_facet | Fatimah Al-Habib Fatimah Al Abdulbaqi Hala Alibrahim Yasmin Alhamdan Muhammad Ashraf Nazir Jehan AlHumaid |
| author_sort | Fatimah Al-Habib |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <h4>Introduction</h4>Physicians promote oral health by screening for oral pathologies, providing emergency help, and referring patients to dentists. The literature consistently reports a robust association between periodontal disease and systemic diseases. However, it is not fully known if physicians in Saudi Arabia are aware of the oral-systemic disease links. Therefore, the study aimed to evaluate physicians' awareness of the oral-systemic disease links and their association with patients' referral to dentists and patients' access to oral care.<h4>Methods</h4>This cross-sectional study was conducted (June 2019-January 2020) on physicians working in private and public hospitals in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia. The physicians (n = 333) responded to a paper-based self-administered and pilot-tested questionnaire which inquired about their awareness of oral-systemic disease links and patient referral to dentists. The reliability of items of oral-systemic disease links was evaluated by calculating Cronbach's alpha (0.84).<h4>Results</h4>Most participants (92.8%) agreed/strongly agreed that oral health is associated with systemic health. Half of the sample (50.8%) referred patients to dentists during the last month. Almost 80.5% believed that more patients will be referred to the dentists because of their awareness of the oral-systemic disease links and 84% believed that more patients will access oral care services if patients were aware of the oral-systemic disease links. The participants who referred patients to the dentists during the last month (P = 0.038), believed that more patients will be referred (P = 0.001), and believed that more patients will access oral care (P = 0.003) demonstrated significantly higher oral-systemic disease links awareness score. The adjusted model showed patients' referral to dentist (OR = 1.96.10, P = 0.006) and believing in more patients accessing oral care (OR = 2.05, P = 0.044) were associated with significantly increased awareness of the oral-systemic disease links.<h4>Conclusion</h4>Most physicians in the study were aware of the oral-systemic disease links. Increased awareness of the oral-systemic disease links was significantly associated with the referral of patients to dentists and belief in improved patients' access to oral care services. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T08:21:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b21fd43c578049d3b6f4fc1dfd8e04f1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T08:21:39Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-b21fd43c578049d3b6f4fc1dfd8e04f12022-12-22T04:34:56ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032022-01-011710e027647910.1371/journal.pone.0276479Physicians' awareness of oral-systemic links and its association with physician-reported patient referral to dentists.Fatimah Al-HabibFatimah Al AbdulbaqiHala AlibrahimYasmin AlhamdanMuhammad Ashraf NazirJehan AlHumaid<h4>Introduction</h4>Physicians promote oral health by screening for oral pathologies, providing emergency help, and referring patients to dentists. The literature consistently reports a robust association between periodontal disease and systemic diseases. However, it is not fully known if physicians in Saudi Arabia are aware of the oral-systemic disease links. Therefore, the study aimed to evaluate physicians' awareness of the oral-systemic disease links and their association with patients' referral to dentists and patients' access to oral care.<h4>Methods</h4>This cross-sectional study was conducted (June 2019-January 2020) on physicians working in private and public hospitals in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia. The physicians (n = 333) responded to a paper-based self-administered and pilot-tested questionnaire which inquired about their awareness of oral-systemic disease links and patient referral to dentists. The reliability of items of oral-systemic disease links was evaluated by calculating Cronbach's alpha (0.84).<h4>Results</h4>Most participants (92.8%) agreed/strongly agreed that oral health is associated with systemic health. Half of the sample (50.8%) referred patients to dentists during the last month. Almost 80.5% believed that more patients will be referred to the dentists because of their awareness of the oral-systemic disease links and 84% believed that more patients will access oral care services if patients were aware of the oral-systemic disease links. The participants who referred patients to the dentists during the last month (P = 0.038), believed that more patients will be referred (P = 0.001), and believed that more patients will access oral care (P = 0.003) demonstrated significantly higher oral-systemic disease links awareness score. The adjusted model showed patients' referral to dentist (OR = 1.96.10, P = 0.006) and believing in more patients accessing oral care (OR = 2.05, P = 0.044) were associated with significantly increased awareness of the oral-systemic disease links.<h4>Conclusion</h4>Most physicians in the study were aware of the oral-systemic disease links. Increased awareness of the oral-systemic disease links was significantly associated with the referral of patients to dentists and belief in improved patients' access to oral care services.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0276479 |
| spellingShingle | Fatimah Al-Habib Fatimah Al Abdulbaqi Hala Alibrahim Yasmin Alhamdan Muhammad Ashraf Nazir Jehan AlHumaid Physicians' awareness of oral-systemic links and its association with physician-reported patient referral to dentists. PLoS ONE |
| title | Physicians' awareness of oral-systemic links and its association with physician-reported patient referral to dentists. |
| title_full | Physicians' awareness of oral-systemic links and its association with physician-reported patient referral to dentists. |
| title_fullStr | Physicians' awareness of oral-systemic links and its association with physician-reported patient referral to dentists. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Physicians' awareness of oral-systemic links and its association with physician-reported patient referral to dentists. |
| title_short | Physicians' awareness of oral-systemic links and its association with physician-reported patient referral to dentists. |
| title_sort | physicians awareness of oral systemic links and its association with physician reported patient referral to dentists |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0276479 |
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