Hughes Cynthia T, Thompson Ana L, Browning William D
Department of Dental Hygiene, School of Allied Health Sciences, Medical College of Georgia, USA.
J Dent Hyg. 2004 Fall;78(4):11. Epub 2004 Oct 1.
Recent research suggests that one in five Americans has hypertension, according to the American Heart Association. When hypertension is undiagnosed or uncontrolled, it places patients at risk for other cardiovascular diseases, contributing to an increase in mortality. Dental hygienists are in an ideal setting to screen for this silent disease. This study was designed to determine how frequently a group of practicing dental hygienists performs screenings for hypertension on their patients, and to determine the barriers that prevent this screening from occurring.
One hundred one dental hygienists were questioned with a written survey about their blood pressure screening practices and their reasons for not taking blood pressure readings, if applicable.
Sixty-seven dental hygienists completed the survey. Survey results revealed that the majority of dental hygienists were not recording blood pressure readings, even though their dental hygiene school curriculum had emphasized doing so for all patients. The most frequently cited reasons for not performing a routine blood pressure screening were insufficient time in the appointment and the minimal value given to the procedure by their employers.
To work against obstacles that prevent the provision of this service, dental and dental hygiene faculty must increase their efforts to inculcate in their students the value of blood pressure screening. Further studies are needed to determine if the findings of this study are indicative of only one segment of dental hygiene practitioners, or if they represent the norm in the profession.
根据美国心脏协会的研究，最近的研究表明五分之一的美国人患有高血压。当高血压未被诊断或未得到控制时，会使患者面临患其他心血管疾病的风险，导致死亡率上升。牙科保健员处于筛查这种隐匿性疾病的理想环境中。本研究旨在确定一组执业牙科保健员对患者进行高血压筛查的频率，并确定阻碍这种筛查进行的因素。
向101名牙科保健员进行书面调查，询问他们的血压筛查做法以及（如适用）不进行血压测量的原因。
67名牙科保健员完成了调查。调查结果显示，尽管牙科保健学校的课程强调要为所有患者测量血压，但大多数牙科保健员并未记录血压读数。不进行常规血压筛查最常被提及的原因是预约时间不足以及雇主对该程序重视程度不够。
为克服阻碍提供这项服务的障碍，牙科和牙科保健教员必须加大力度向学生灌输血压筛查的重要性。需要进一步研究以确定本研究的结果是否仅代表牙科保健从业者的一个群体，还是代表该行业的普遍情况。
