Patients' experience of care and treatment outcome at the Department of Clinical Oral Physiology, Dental Public Service in Stockholm.
Chronic pain conditions in the craniofacial region are common in the adult population with a prevalence of approximately 10%. They are included in the generic term temporomandibular disorders (TMD) and accompanied by restricted mouth opening capacity, chewing difficulties, headache and neck pain. These pain conditions cause psychological suffering, impaired social relations, and recurrent sick leave, subsequently leading to frequent use of health care, medication and consequently to a decreased quality of life. Approximately 25% of children have signs of TMD and girls are shown to be more affected than boys. These signs increase with age and in the adult population the prevalence is approximately 38-40%, also here with a higher frequency in women than in men. This study comprised 198 patients who answered an anonymous questionnaire after termination of their treatment. The study aimed to investigate the activity at the department of clinical oral physiology at the Folktandvården Eastman Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, regarding the patients and their cause of care-seeking, as well as the patients' subjective experiences of the specialist care and the treatment outcome. As a secondary aim the purpose was to investigate how/if the clinicians at the department of clinical oral physiology reached their intention of being "curious", "considerate" and "accessible". The results from this study show that the majority of the patients (57.1%) were referred from the dental public service in Stockholm. 71.7% of the patients were young women between the ages of 11 and 20. The main causes of care-seeking were temporomandibular joint clickings, followed by limited jaw movement, headache and orofacial pain. Further, an immense majority of the patients (89.9%) were very satisfied with their treatment as well as the treatment outcome. These results indicate that the clinicians at the department reached their intention of being "curious", "considerate"and "accessible", which also implies that the department clearly meets the three core principles of the Folktandvården in Stockholm.
Christidis
Nikolaos
N
Department of Clinical Oral Physiology at the Eastman Institute, Folktandvården Stockholms län AB, Stockholm, Sweden. Nikolaos.Christidis@ftv.sll.se
Smedberg
Erica
E
Hägglund
Helene
H
Hedenberg-Magnusson
Britt
B
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003729:Dental Care / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D003812:Dentist-Patient Relations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009971:Orthodontics, Corrective / Q000379:methods; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013705:Temporomandibular Joint Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult