Dental patient complience: developing instruments for managing systemic and oral health

Objective. To develop and validate a tool for assessing dental patient compliance. A critical component in improving the health of a modern patient, especially those with chronic conditions, is his adherence to treatment and compliance with medical recommendations, which is reflected in his level of compliance. This characteristic of a dental patient can be crucial in achieving and maintaining treatment outcomes, which can be both prolonged and costly. This necessitates the use of tools to assess the level of dental patient’s compliance and, subsequently, technologies for its improvement. Materials and methods. The study design was a psychometric assessment of a dental patient compliance questionnaire. The preliminary version of the questionnaire was developed using the Delphi method with the participation of 17 experts who evaluated its content validity. The clarity of the wording was assessed both by experts and by the Flesch Reading Ease readability index. Internal consistency of the questionnaire was assessed using Cronbach's alpha and item-total correlation (I-TC). Factor analysis was performed to identify the questionnaire`s subscales. Reliability was assessed using the test-retest method with calculation of Pearson correlation coefficient (r). The sensitivity of the instrument and its applicability were evaluated in groups of patients undergoing dental treatment with or without the use of compliance- enhancing technologies. Results. The preliminary version of the questionnaire, developed by experts, consisted of 51 statements, the Flesch Reading Ease score was 43 [36; 54]. During internal consistency assessment, the questionnaire was reduced to 45 statements, and Cronbach's alpha for the final version was 0.91. The reliability of the questionnaire, as assessed by Pearson`s correlation coefficient, was 0.86. Sensitivity testing proved its ability to detect changes in the level of compliant behavior depending on external factors. Conclusions. The proposed dental patient compliance questionnaire is a specialized, valid tool for assessing the level of adherence to dental health. It opens up opportunities for cooperation between the patient and the dentist to achieve the maintenance of both oral health and systemic health in general.

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