Thema LK, Singh S. Epidemiological profile of patients utilising public oral health services in Limpopo province, South Africa.
Afr J Prim Health Care Fam Med 2017;
9:e1-e5. [PMID:
28828870 PMCID:
PMC5566226 DOI:
10.4102/phcfm.v9i1.1206]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2016] [Revised: 02/13/2017] [Accepted: 01/21/2017] [Indexed: 11/01/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Despite the impact of oral diseases on the quality of life, there is limited updated evidence on oral health status in Limpopo province.
OBJECTIVES
To determine the epidemiological profile of patients utilising public oral health services in Limpopo province.
METHOD
This was a descriptive retrospective clinical chart review conducted in five purposively selected district hospitals in Limpopo province. The collected data included the patient's sociodemographic information, reasons for dental consultation, information on the dental or oral diseases and the treatment received. Five hundred clinical files were systematically selected (100 from each district hospital) for the period 01 January 1995 to 31 December 2013. Data were collected using the World Health Organization's indicator age groups, namely 6-year-olds, 12-year-olds, 18-year-olds and 35-44-year-old groups. A data capturing sheet was used to record the collected information. Data were analysed using the statistical software package for social sciences SPSS version 23.0.
RESULTS
The majority of patients were in the age group of 6 to 20 years (n = 375, 75%). The majority were male patients (n = 309; 62%). Dental caries was the most common complaint (n = 298, 60%). The second most common main complaint in this age group was retained primary or deciduous teeth (n = 60, 12%) affecting children mainly in the age group of 6 to 12 years. The most common clinical procedure across all five districts was dental extractions (n = 324, 64%). Other clinical interventions included scaling and polishing (n = 33, 12%) and dental restorative care (n = 20, 3%).
CONCLUSION
There is an urgent need to reorient oral health service delivery in Limpopo province to focus more on preventive oral health programmes.
Collapse