[Social vulnerability of out-patients consulting the dentistry service of a public hospital].
There are social inequalities in oral and dental health. It can be useful to identify people in socially vulnerable or marginalised situations because they require a particular kind of care. Through a survey of patients in a dentistry services in a public hospital, we sought to identify those people in a precarious socio-economic situation by the use of a tool designed and validated by multi-disciplinary experts. The tool includes five criteria, and is presented in the format of an index card which is filled in by the patient upon his arrival. This data collection was carried out in two distinctly separate period of time (winter and summer). 865 cards were collected, and the rate of collection of complete data was 73%. 94% of the cards allowed us to determine the socio-economic status of the patient, and 48% (n=382) of them were classified as having a socially vulnerable situation. Among them, 69% of them benefited from CMU or AME, and 59% of them do not have any supplementary health insurance. 47% of them admit to having difficulties in paying for their medications or covering the cost of their medical consultations, and 48% perceive a social service aide. The prevalence of social vulnerability of the dental centre's patients is estimated at 32%. This data collection tool has made it possible to measure the significance and the nature of the social vulnerability of the patients who receive care and services from this public hospital's dentistry unit. Its capacity to identify patients whose care needs are often not met remains to be seen, as well as the capacity of the hospital to make up for these lost opportunities thus remains to be highlighted.
Pascal
J
J
Laboratoire de Santé Publique et d'Epidémiologie, CHU de Nantes, PIMESP-Hôpital Saint Jacques, Nantes, France.
Laboux
O
O
Paillereau
J
J
Giumelli
B
B
Lombrail
P
P
D003729:Dental Care / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006779:Hospitals, Public; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage; D007348:Insurance, Health; D012923:Social Class; D035862:Vulnerable Populations