ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

 

Accessibility to dental care for patients with special needs

 

 

Cíntia Yuki Fukuoka^I; Edgard Michel-Crosato^I; Ismar Eduardo Martins Filho^I; Maria Gabriela Haye Biazevic^I; Wellington Menyrval Zaitter^II

^I Department of Social Dentistry, University of Sao Paulo – Sao Paulo – SP – Brazil
^II School of Dentistry, Positivo University – Curitiba – PR – Brazil

Correspondence

 

 

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ABSTRACT

Introduction and objective: The aim of this study was to verify the professionals' perception about the accessibility to dental care establishments for three types of patients with special needs: Diabetes, AIDS, and Cerebral Paralysis patients, in the city of São Paulo. Material and methods: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study with a non probabilistic sample. For the analysis, 107 dental care establishments were selected and divided into two categories (private and insurance). Each one of the establishments was randomly selected from a list containing a total of 3,234 private and 2,015 insurance establishments. The information for the study was based on phone conversations, when a semi-structured interview was accomplished to verify the accessibility for AIDS, Diabetes, and Cerebral Paralysis special need patients. The analysis of the interviews' content was executed according to the methodology of Lefèvre and Lefèvre (2000) and in agreement with the central idea. Results: From the total of participants, 55.14% were female and 53.27% worked at a private clinic. In relation to the patients' accessibility, 96.26% had already treated Diabetes patients, 55.14% AIDS patients, and 28.97% Cerebral Paralysis patients. Conclusion: It can be concluded that concerning to Diabetes patients, the main difficulty is the clinical practice, mainly related to problems in blood coagulation. For Cerebral Paralysis patients, the difficulties were related to personnel training, establishment structure, and also clinical practice. For AIDS patients, although difficulties in clinical practice were mentioned, prejudice still seemed to be the major difficulty.

Keywords: Dentistry; acquired immunodeficiency syndrome; health services accessibility; Diabetes Mellitus; cerebral palsy.

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Introduction

The patient with special needs may be described as that subject who is not adapted physically, intellectually, or emotionally to the normal parameters, considering the patterns of growth, mental development, and emotional controlling, as well as those related to health maintenance ¹⁷.

World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that the prevalence ratio of deficiency in the world would be 1:10 subjects. WHO still states that from this total of patients with special needs, more than two thirds do not receive any type of dental care ^13,16.

Cerebral palsy is defined as a group of non-progressive motor disorders (tonus and posture), but showing changeable frequency, secondary to a lesion of the developing brain. The damaging effect may occur at the pre-, peri-, or post-natal period ⁴. The disease's severity is variable. Therefore, its incidence rate is controversy, reaching 7:1,000 live-born infants when all its levels of damaging are taking into account ⁹.

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a contagious lethal disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) whose action is to destroy the lymphocytes, the cells responsible for the body's defense. The virus makes the person susceptible to opportunistic infections and diseases. Since the disease onset, the constant development of medicaments has been significantly lengthening the life of HIV carriers, because they act interfering in the virus multiplication. Consequently, the disease's signs and symptoms onset is postponed and the reduction rate of the immunologic system's protection cells is diminished ¹. Depending on its severity, HIV-carrier/AIDS patients may present oral manifestations, such as periapical lesions, candidiasis, oral cancer, periodontal diseases, caries, other correlated factors ^6,7. Diabetes mellitus has been recognized worldwide as a public health problem, due to the morbidity and mortality indexes associated to the disease as well as the high costs involved in its control and treatment of its complications.

Diabetes has been considered one of the main chronic diseases affecting the contemporary human being and it attacks the populations at all economical-social development stages ^7,15. The projections for the first decade of this century indicate that there will be 239 million of diabetic people worldwide, mainly due to the progressive longevity of the populations and to the social-cultural transformations caused by urbanization ¹⁹.

Patients with special needs demand specific care because they suffer from multiple disabilities ³. Due to the increasing socialization of patients with special needs, it is essential that environments, buildings, and public spaces be more suitable for them, mainly places that offer health services ^2,14.

The aim of this present study was to verify the professionals' perception about the accessibility to dental care establishments for three types of patients with special needs: Diabetes, AIDS, and Cerebral Paralysis patients, in the city of Sao Paulo.

 

Material and methods

This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study with a non probabilistic sample. For the analysis, 107 dental care establishments were selected and divided into two categories: private and insurance. Each one of the establishments was randomly selected from a list containing a total of 3,234 private and 2,015 insurance establishments.

The information for the study was based on phone conversations, when a semi-structured interview was accomplished to verify the accessibility of AIDS, Diabetes, and Cerebral Paralysis special need patients.

The study's participant was a dental professional, represented by a dentist or the technical responsible person of the establishment. Each establishment was represented by one person.

At the beginning of the phone call, the researcher identified himself and explained the research character. An explicative consent form was read and the participant verbally accepted to participate in the research.

This study was analysed and approved by the Ethical Committee of the School of Dentistry of the University of Sao Paulo, under protocol number #142/2008.

The analysis of the interviews' content was executed according to the methodology of Lefèvre and Lefèvre (2000) ¹⁰. Its aim is to generate, in relation to the given responses, a discourse or a discursive thought on the issue. This set constituted the social representation of the examined issue.

The construction of such method was performed according to the central idea, understood as the statement or statements which disclose the essence of the discursive content made explicit by the participants in their responses.

 

Results

One hundred and seven interviews were performed. From the total number of participants, 59 (55.14%) were female and 48 (44.86%) male. Fifty-seven (53.27%) participants worked at a private and 50 (46.73%) at dental insurance office. Seventy-eight (72.89%) participants were dentists and 29 (27.11%) auxiliary personnel (table I).

 

 

 

Concerning to the accessibility to patients, 96.26% of the participants had already treated diabetic patients; 55.14% AIDS patients; and 28.97% cerebral palsy patients (table II).

 

 

 

The main difficulties and the positive points with regards to the treatment of patients with special needs were described in tables III, IV, and V. The complications were divided into training, structure and clinical practice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Discussion

Currently, the dentist is challenged to rethink the aspects of clinical practice: adequate examination, control of biosecurity, and patient's humanization. In this context, the treatment of patients with special needs is a technical, formative and conceptive challenge.

Each pathology demands a specific treatment and present difficulties inherent to each case. Patients with special needs require specific care because they are affected by multiple disabilities ³. Due to the increasing socialization of patients with special needs, it is essential that environments, buildings, and public spaces be more suitable for them, mainly the places that offer health services ^2,14.

In this present study, 96.26% of the participants had already treated diabetic patients, 55.14% AIDS patients, 28.97% cerebral palsy patients. According to the participants' reports, the technical difficulty in treating cerebral palsy patients is clear. Although AIDS and Diabetes are systemic diseases, the diabetic patient had more accessibility than HIV-carrier/AIDS patient. This difference has been described by the excessive concern about biosecurity, e.g., the use of two gloves, among others concerns. Such problematization has already been reported by literature ^8,12,20 and reassures that the adequate assessment about the occupational risk of HIV is a key factor in the dentist's willingness to treat HIV-carrier patients. The correct health-area team's knowledge on HIV infection favors the treatment of such patients. Accordingly, permanent education programs for the dental team on issues related to HIV virus epidemic constitutes an important strategy to increase the access and to improve the dental treatment quality for HIV-carrier patients ¹⁸.

 

Conclusion

It can be concluded that concerning to the diabetic patient, the main difficulty is the clinical practice, mainly with regards to bleeding problems. The treatment of cerebral palsy patients presents problems of training, structure, and clinical practice. Although clinical difficulties were cited in the treatment of HIV-carrier/AIDS patients, we find that prejudice is already the main one.

 

References

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2. Brasil. Presidência da República. Decreto n.º 3.298, de 20 de dezembro de 1999. Dispõe sobre a política nacional para a integração da pessoa portadora de deficiência, consolida as normas de proteção e dá outras providências.

3. Brasil. Presidência da República. Lei n.º 10.098, de 19 de dezembro de 2000. Estabelece normas gerais e critérios básicos para a promoção da acessibilidade das pessoas portadoras de deficiência ou com mobilidade reduzida e dá outras providências.

4. Camargo MAP, Antunes JLF. Untreated dental caries in children with cerebral palsy in the Brazilian context. Int J Paediat Dent. 2008;18(2):131-8.

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6. Epstein JB. Oral malignancies associated with HIV. J Can Dent Assoc. 2007;73(10):953-6.

7. Franco LJ. Estudo sobre a prevalência do diabetes mellitus na população de 30 a 60 anos de idade no município de São Paulo [tese de livre-docência]. São Paulo: Escola Paulista de Medicina; 1988. 54 p.

8. Gibson B, Freeman R. Dangerousness and dentistry: an explanation of dentists' reactions and responses to the treatment of HIV-seropositive patients. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 1996;24:341-5.

9. Kuban KC, Leviton A. Cerebral palsy. N Engl J Med. 1994;330(3):188-95.

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11. Malerbi DA. Estudo sobre a prevalência do diabetes mellitus no Brasil [tese de Doutorado]. São Paulo: Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo; 1991. 154 p.

12. McCarthy GM, Koval JJ, Morin RJ. Factors associated with dentists' willingness to treat HIV-infected patients. In: Greenspan JS, Greenspan D, editors. Oral manifestations of HIV. Chicago: Quintessence Publishing; 1995. p. 351-6.

13. Brasil. Ministério da Saúde. Secretaria Nacional de Assistência à Saúde/DPS. Coordenação Nacional de Saúde Bucal Integrada ao Paciente. Programa Nacional de Assistência Odontológica Especial: 1. Brasília: Ministério da Saúde; 1992.

14. Mugayar LRF. Pacientes portadores de necessidades especiais: manual de Odontologia e saúde oral. São Paulo: Pancast; 2000.

15. Pupo AA, Ursich MJM, Rocha DM. Estratégia do tratamento do diabetes. Rev Soc Med Bras. 1986:32(11):208-12.

16. Ravaglia C. El problema de la salud bucodental de los pacientes discapacitados y especiales en América Latina. Rev Fola Oral. 1997;(9):162-5.

17. Sampaio EF, Cézar FN, Martins MGA. Perfil odontológico dos pacientes portadores de necessidades especiais atendidos no Instituto de Previdência do Estado do Ceará. RBPS. 2004;17(3):127-34.

18. Senna MIB, Guimaraes MDC, Pordeus IA. Atendimento odontológico de portadores de HIV/Aids: fatores associados à disposição de cirurgiões-dentistas do Sistema Único de Saúde de Belo Horizonte. Cad Saúde Públ. 2005;21(1):217-25.

19. Sociedade Brasileira de Diabetes. Consenso brasileiro de conceitos e condutas para o diabetes mellitus. São Paulo: Sociedade Brasileira de Diabetes; 1997.

20. Wilson NH, Burke FJ, Cheung SW. Factors associated with dentists' willingness to treat high-risk patients. Br Dent J. 1995;178:145-8.

 

 

Correspondence:
Wellington Menyrval Zaitter
Universidade Positivo
Rua Professor Pedro Viriato Parigot de Souza, n. 5.300 – Campo Comprido
CEP 81280-330 – Curitiba – PR – Brasil
E-mail: zaitter@onda.com.br

 

 

Received for publication: January 24, 2011
Accepted for publication: February 23, 2011