An experimental test of adolescents' compliance with dental appointments.
This study assessed factors associated with adolescents' compliance with dental appointments. Patients (n = 162) attending an adolescent clinic were administered a pretest questionnaire assessing health locus of control, self-esteem, and beliefs and attitudes about dental health from the Health Belief Model. Adolescents needing dental care were randomly assigned to groups for whom their dental appointment was made by a health professional or one in which the patient made his or her own appointment and to groups receiving an appointment reminder card versus not receiving a reminder card. Dental records were then reviewed to examine previous experiences with dental treatment. Neither the method used for making the appointment nor the use of reminder cards had a significant effect on compliance with the dental appointments. Also, compliance was not associated with health locus of control, self-esteem, or variables from the Health Belief Model. Older patients were more noncompliant than younger patients (tau = 0.14). Noncompliance was negatively correlated with the number of previous dental visits and previous dental procedures, oral hygiene instruction, and x-rays. Number of previous x-rays and previous broken appointments explained 5.1% of the variation in noncompliance. The Health Belief Model was not successful in predicting compliance behavior in this sample of adolescents.
West
K P
KP
Department of Oral Health Practice, College of Dentistry, University of Kentucky, Lexington.
DuRant
R H
RH
Pendergrast
R
R
D000293:Adolescent; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D016854:Dental Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D003729:Dental Care / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000523:psychology*; D012649:Self Concept