Self-reported medical conditions among a sample of adult patients screened at faculty of dentistry’s clinics, King Abdulaziz University

Abstract EN

Many dental practitioners assume that their patients are systemically healthy, so medical history is often overlooked.

The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of reported medical conditions among a sample of dental school patients at King Abdulaziz University.

Retrospective evaluation of patients screening records at the Faculty of Dentistrys clinics was conducted.

A random sample of 297 dental records of patients who were admitted to the dental school during the year 2003 and were 18 years of age or older were selected.

Descriptive statistics including mean, median, frequency and Pearson Chi-square were used for data analysis.

About 24% (n = 71) of the study sample reported a positive history for one medical condition and about 7% (n = 20) reported a positive history for more than one medical condition.

Diabetes was the most frequently reported condition (11.8%), followed by anemia (8.4%) and hypertension (6.7%).

These findings indicate a high frequency of reported medical conditions among dental patients.

Thus, detailed medical history as well as the obtaining of any necessary medical consultation are required before making any therapeutic decision.

Future studies need to address the frequency of undiagnosed and unreported medical conditions, especially diabetes and hypertension, among the dental patients.