Perception Regarding Oral Health Among Patients Visiting Dental Outpatient Department

Abstract

Objective: To assess knowledge, attitude and practice regarding oral health among patients visiting dental OPD in hospitals of district Malir, Karachi. Study Design and Setting: A cross-sectional study was conducted at dental outpatient departments of two hospitals of district Malir, Karachi. Methodology: A total of 393 participants were randomly interviewed by the principal investigator with the help of structured questionnaire developed specifically for the study after obtaining written informed consent over the study of 6 months. Data was entered and analyzed in SPSS version 21. Inferential analysis was performed using chi-square test whereas binary logistic regression was used to develop a risk assessment model for the study outcome. The significance level was set at 0.05. Results: Overall 31.8% of the study participants had adequate knowledge, 25.2% had adequate attitude whereas 32.2% had adequate practices with regards to oral health. Furthermore, multivariable analysis revealed that higher qualification of the study participants had significant positive associations with adequateness of all of the knowledge, attitude and practices of the study participants regarding oral health at p-value of <0.05. Conclusion: The level of knowledge and appropriateness of attitude and practices of the study participants was less than satisfactory. The higher education level had a positive impact over the oral health of the participants. It is recommended that healthcare providers and government, in their respective capacities, educate and persuade people to take better care of their oral health