Abstract
Abstract
Background
Geriatric dentistry is an understudied area in dental schools in Egypt. Our study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitudes of Egyptian dentists regarding geriatric oral health and identify barriers to delivering dental care to geriatric patients.
Methods
We conducted an anonymous online cross-sectional study in November and December 2022, targeting dentists with varying levels of experience working in different Egyptian institutions. A 30-item questionnaire assessed the respondent’s views on geriatric oral health, perceived knowledge, attitudes, and barriers. The Google form was distributed through emails and commonly used social media platforms.
Results
A total of 421 dentists responded to this online questionnaire. Of the respondents, 44.9% were male, 45.0% were between 20 and 29 years old, and 31.5% worked in more than one dental setting. Multivariate analysis revealed that female sex negatively affected attitude β = -1.72 [95%CI,-2.43 – -1.11]. The proportion of older patients who visited the respondents’ clinics per day (11–30%) and more than 30% increased perceived knowledge [β = 1.01 (95%CI, 0.41 –1.62), β = 1.50 (95%CI, 0.71–2.22)] and attitude [β = 0.70 (95%CI, 0.06–1.40), β = 0.73 (95%, 0.13–1.61)] while decreased the perceived barriers [β = -1.10 (95%CI, -1.91 – -0.32)] respectively. On the other hand, years of experience increased perceived knowledge only after 5–10 years [β = 1.02 (95%CI, 0.04–2.10)] and after more than 10 years [β = 1.30 (95%CI, 0.21–2.70)]. Governmental work only increased perceived barriers [β = 1.33 (95%CI, 0.10–2.54)], while living in the middle and west delta decreased perceived barriers [β = -0.91 (95%CI, -2.12 – -0.01 and β = -1.33, (95%CI, -2.22 – -0.40) respectively].
Conclusions
Our study highlights the need to improve the knowledge and attitudes of young dentists towards geriatric dentistry. Furthermore, working conditions in dental facilities, particularly in the government sector and Upper Egypt, need to be improved to reduce barriers to delivering dental care to geriatric patients.
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Reference28 articles.
1. World health Organization. WHO: Number of people over 60 years set to double by 2050; major societal changes required. 2015 September 30, 2015 [cited 2023 March 23]; Available from: https://www.who.int/news/item/30-09-2015-who-number-of-people-over-60-years-set-to-double-by-2050-major-societal-changes-required.
2. Economic UNDo, Social Affairs PD. World Population Prospects 2022: Summary of Results. UN DESA/POP/2022/TR/NO. 3 2022.
3. Shetty P. Grey matter: ageing in developing countries. The Lancet. 2012;379(9823):1285–7.
4. Franceschi C, et al. The continuum of aging and age-related Diseases: common mechanisms but different rates. Front Med. 2018;5:61.
5. Gil-Montoya JA et al. Oral health in the elderly patient and its impact on general well-being: a nonsystematic review. Clin Interv Aging. 2015;461–7.