Referral patterns of special needs patients at the Royal Dental Hospital of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
BACKGROUND
Special Needs Dentistry (SND) has been recognized as a dental specialty in Australia since 2003 but there have been no studies addressing the profile of patients for specialist care. The purpose of this study is to identify, via referrals received, the profile of patients and quality of referrals at the largest public SND unit in Victoria, Australia.


METHODS
All referrals received over a 6-month period (1 January-30 June 2013) by the integrated SND unit (ISNU) were reviewed prior to allocation to the outpatient clinic (OP), domiciliary (DOM) or general anaesthetic (GA) services.


RESULTS
Six-hundred and eighty-eight referrals were received with the majority for the OP clinic (68.3%), followed by DOM (22.4%) and GA services (9.3%) (χ2= 360.2, P < 0.001). A referral may have specified more than one special needs condition with the most common category being those who were medically compromised (81.7%). The reasons for referral included lack of compliance (27.2%), further management due to multiple medical conditions or GA services required (9.9%), or for multiple other reasons (62.9%).


CONCLUSIONS
A diverse pattern of SND patients was referred to the ISNU with a majority of referrals having no specific referral reason cited, suggesting poor quality of referrals.
Faculty of Dentistry, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
M
M
Mohamed Rohani
Deakin Health Economics, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia.
H
H
Calache
Melbourne Dental School, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
G L
GL
Borromeo
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010377:Pediatric Dentistry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013997:Time Factors; D014739:Victoria; D055815:Young Adult
Consultations; dentistry; referral; special needs; specialist