Guo Y, Woodard J, Zhang Y, Staras SAS, Gordan VV, Gilbert GH, McEdward DL, Shenkman E. Patients' comfort with and receipt of health risk assessments during routine dental visits: Results from the South Atlantic region of the US National Dental Practice-Based Research Network.
Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 2023;
51:854-863. [PMID:
35851866 PMCID:
PMC10792993 DOI:
10.1111/cdoe.12773]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2021] [Revised: 06/06/2022] [Accepted: 07/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES
To understand patients' comfort with health risk assessments (HRAs) and patient and dentist factors associated with the provision of HRAs.
METHODS
In this cross-sectional study, 857 patients seen by 30 dental practitioners in the United States National Dental Practice-Based Research Network reported their comfort receiving HRA for six risk factors (tobacco use, alcohol use, dietary sugar intake, human immunodeficiency virus risks, human papillomavirus risks and existing medical conditions) and whether they discussed any of the risk factors during their visits. Multi-level logistic models were used to examine the impacts of patient, practitioner, practice characteristics on the (1) number of risk factors patients were comfortable discussing and (2) number of risk factors assessed in the current dental visit.
RESULTS
Only a small percentage (4%) of patients reported being uncomfortable receiving any HRA during their dental visits. However, over half of the patients (53%) reported that they did not receive any HRAs during the current visit. In the regression analyses, patients who were older, male and from the suburban were more likely to be comfortable with more HRAs. Dentists were more likely to provide HRA if they were younger, not non-Hispanic white, less likely to feel that providing HRAs was beyond their scope of practice, yet more likely to feel occasional discomfort in providing HRA.
CONCLUSIONS
Interventions should focus on reducing dental practitioner perception that conducting HRAs is beyond their scope of practice and standardizing screening assessments for multiple risk factors.
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