Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health, Adelaide Dental School, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 2020 Aug;48(4):309-316. doi: 10.1111/cdoe.12534. Epub 2020 Apr 13.
Dentist-patient relationships (DPRs) are a key component in clinical encounters with potential benefits for oral health outcomes. This study aimed to investigate whether better DPR variables are associated with higher oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL).
A total of 12 245 adults aged 18 years or over were randomly sampled from South Australia in 2015-2016. Data were collected from self-complete questionnaires and analysed as a cross-sectional design. The outcome variable was the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14). Explanatory DPR variables included trust in dentists, satisfaction with dental care, and dental fear. Covariates comprising oral health behaviours, dental services, demographics, and socioeconomic status were included as potential confounding variables. Bivariate correlation analyses and multivariable linear regression were performed for the associations among explanatory, outcome variables and other covariates.
Response data were analysed from 4220 participants (response rate = 41.9%). Unadjusted mean total scores of DPR variables and OHIP-14 were associated with most of the study participants' characteristics (P < .05). Bivariate correlations among DPR variables and OHIP-14 showed a diverse range of coefficients (|r| or |ρ|=0.22-0.67). Multivariable regression analyses in both individual/clustered block entry and full model indicated that higher satisfaction and less dental fear (B = -0.039 and 0.316, respectively in the full model) were associated with lower OHIP-14 after adjusting for possible confounders (P < .01).
This study found that favourable DPR variables, mainly greater satisfaction and less dental fear are positively associated with better OHRQoL. Further studies are warranted to investigate the causality and mediation/moderation of DPR variables on oral health outcomes.
牙医患者关系（DPR）是临床接触的一个关键组成部分，对口腔健康结果具有潜在益处。本研究旨在探讨更好的 DPR 变量是否与更高的口腔健康相关生活质量（OHRQoL）相关。
2015-2016 年，从南澳大利亚州随机抽取了 12245 名 18 岁或以上的成年人。数据来自自我完成的问卷，并以横断面设计进行分析。结果变量为口腔健康影响概况（OHIP-14）。解释性 DPR 变量包括对牙医的信任、对牙科护理的满意度和牙科恐惧。纳入口腔健康行为、牙科服务、人口统计学和社会经济状况等混杂变量作为潜在混杂变量。对解释性、结果变量和其他混杂变量之间的关联进行了双变量相关分析和多变量线性回归分析。
对 4220 名参与者（应答率为 41.9%）的应答数据进行了分析。未经调整的 DPR 变量和 OHIP-14 的总得分平均值与大多数研究参与者的特征相关（P<0.05）。DPR 变量和 OHIP-14 之间的双变量相关性显示出范围广泛的系数（|r|或|ρ|=0.22-0.67）。在个体/聚类块输入和全模型中的多元回归分析表明，在调整可能的混杂因素后，更高的满意度和更少的牙科恐惧（全模型中分别为 B=-0.039 和 0.316）与 OHIP-14 较低相关（P<0.01）。
本研究发现，有利的 DPR 变量，主要是更大的满意度和更少的牙科恐惧，与更好的 OHRQoL 呈正相关。需要进一步研究来探讨 DPR 变量对口腔健康结果的因果关系和中介/调节作用。
