Dentists’ attitudes towards chairside medical conditions screening in a dental setting in Saudi Arabia: an exploratory cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Background Screening for medical conditions (MCs) of public health importance is a first step in disease prevention and control. Prior studies in the United States found oral health care providers (OHCPS) embrace screening for increased risk of medical conditions in the dental setting. Our objectives were to assess Saudi Arabian (SA) dentist’s attitudes, willingness and perceived barriers towards implementing screening for MCs into their dental practices. Methods A self-administered, 5-point Likert Scale (1 = very important/willing to 5 = very unimportant/unwilling) questionnaire was given to a convenience sample of 190 practicing dentists. Friedman nonparametric analysis of variance was used to compare responses within each question. Results Of the 143 responding dentists the mean age was 31 years; 102 (71%) were men. The majority felt it was important for a dentist to screen for cardiovascular disease (98.6%), hypertension (97.9%), diabetes (97.9%), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (97.9%), and hepatitis C virus (98.6%). Respondents were willing to refer a patient to a physician (97.9%); send samples to an outside laboratory (96.1%); conduct screening that yields immediate results (96.2%); and discuss results immediately with the patient (93.7%). Respondents were willing to measure/collect blood pressure (67.2%); weight and height (63.7%); and finger stick blood (54.6%). The whole responding dentists (100%) reported time as an important barrier. Respondents were significantly more willing to refer a patient for consultation than send samples to an outside laboratory (mean ranks: 2.32, 2.81, P < 0.001); significantly more willing to measure blood pressure than take oral fluids for salivary diagnostics (mean ranks 2.22, 2.75, p = 0.003). Insurance was significantly ( P < 0.05) less important barrier than time, cost, patients’ willingness or liability (mean ranks 3.56, 2.63, 3.00, 2.79, 3.02, respectively). Conclusions The majority of dentists in this study reported positive attitudes towards and willingness to perform medical screenings in their practice. Time was an important factor.

Public and dental teams' views about weight management interventions in dental health settings: Systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…The remaining six studies are summarized and analyzed descriptively. [43][44][45][46][47][48] Most studies reported data on the views of the dental team (n = 23), with seven reporting views of the public about weight screening and discussion. Most studies focused on weight screening for children (n = 15).…”

“…Twenty‐eight studies [13,684 participants] were eligible for inclusion in quantitative data analysis with 22 suitable for proportional meta‐analysis 22–42 . The remaining six studies are summarized and analyzed descriptively 43–48 . Most studies reported data on the views of the dental team ( n = 23), with seven reporting views of the public about weight screening and discussion.…”

“…Four studies reported on the willingness of dental teams to provide weight management interventions 43,44,46,47 . Over one half of dentists based in studies in the United States (57.4%) and Saudi Arabia (63.7%) were willing to undertake height and weight screening 43,46 .…”

“…were willing to undertake height and weight screening. 43,46 One further study reported over three quarters of dental students in Saudi Arabia endorsed the role of dentists in the identification and prevention of overweight and obesity for children (76%) and over two thirds of students endorsed this for adult patients (69%). 47 Wright et al, a study in the United States, reported 17% of pediatric dentists already offer childhood obesity interventions.…”

HIV testing behaviors and willingness to receive oral rapid HIV testing among dental patients in Xi’an, China

“…One of the concerns about rapid HIV screening is the dental patients’ acceptance [ 32 ]. Research about rapid HIV testing acceptance has been conducted in high HIV prevalence jurisdictions.…”