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Self‐Reported Medical Problems Among Dental Patients in Western Uttar Pradesh, India
Author(s) -
Aggarwal Ashish,
Panat Sunil R.,
Talukder S.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of dental education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.53
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1930-7837
pISSN - 0022-0337
DOI - 10.1002/j.0022-0337.2011.75.12.tb05225.x
Subject(s) - uttar pradesh , medicine , medical history , family medicine , outpatient clinic , population , medical record , dentistry , diabetes mellitus , environmental health , surgery , socioeconomics , sociology , endocrinology
Assessing the medical history of patients before any treatment is an essential aspect of the dentist's responsibility; however, many dental practitioners assume that their patients are systemically healthy so their medical history is often overlooked. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of self‐reported medical conditions among a sample of dental school patients at the Institute of Dental Sciences, Bareilly (Uttar Pradesh), India. Detailed medical histories were taken from 3,786 new dental patients in an outpatient setting. The demographic data, medical status, and use of medications from the charts were analyzed. Thirty‐eight percent of the total patients had a positive finding in their medical history for at least one systemic condition. The most commonly reported systemic condition was hypertension (15.2 percent) followed by diabetes (11.4 percent), and 26 percent of the patients were taking at least one medication daily. The results of this study reflect the medical complexity of the increasingly aging population.