PRIMARY ORAL HEALTH CARE UTILIZATION AND REFERRAL FROM A PRIMARY ORAL HEALTH CARE FACILITY IN A RURAL NIGERIAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA
1Amedari Mcking I*, 2Ogunbodede E. O., 3Adedigba M. A., 4Famro O. & 5Akinjiola O.
1,2,3,5Department of Preventive and Community Dentistry, OAU, Ile-Ife, Osun State
4Department of Dental Surgery, FMC, Keffi, Nasarawa State
Email: mckingamedari@yahoo.com
*Corresponding author
ABSTRACT
To highlight the gender differences in oral health care utilization and referral patterns while taking into account the burden of oral diseases in an adult population as observed in a primary oral health care centre. The study was an observational retrospective study. Study participants were selected using a purposive sample of consecutive patients visiting the dental clinic from July 2004 to June 2017. Data collected from the patient records included the patient’s demographics (age, sex, and occupation), diagnosis, treatment given, referral and reason(s) for referral. Patients younger than 18 years of age were excluded from the study. The data were analysed using the SPSS version 20.0. A chi-squared test was performed to compare the differences between male and female utilization of the dental clinic. The significance level was set at P<0.05. The records of 1,168 patients were retrieved for the study. There was a slight preponderance of males (51%). The mean age distribution in years was 44.2 (S.D. ±18.25). Nineteen percent of the patients had visited the dental clinic more than once. Although more males visited the clinic more than once, there was no statistically significant difference in the dental service utilization between both genders (p>0.05). Nearly half (47.9%) of the patients required oral urgent treatment, while 19.3% of the patients were referred for specialized treatments. The role of the Primary Oral Health Care Centres (POHC) in providing oral urgent treatment was considerable. Nevertheless, there was a need to have an efficient and effective system of referral between the POHC Centre and Tertiary Hospital for the holistic management of patients. There was no significant gender difference in the dental service utilization.
