Department of Oral Medicine and Diagnosis, School of Dentistry and Dental Research Institute, Seoul National University, #101, Daehak-ro, Jongro-Gu, Seoul, 03080, Korea.
Department of Preventive and Social Dentistry, School of Dentistry and Dental Research Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
BMC Oral Health. 2023 Jul 24;23(1):516. doi: 10.1186/s12903-023-03207-4.
The oral health status of inmates in South Korean correctional institutions is poor, mainly due to limited resources and an unestablished triage system. Hence, this study aimed to develop a newly structured dental triage system for South Korean correctional institutions, using the British triage system as a reference.
This study included 32 public health dentists working at correctional institutions in South Korea in 2020, accounting for the entire population of public health dentists that year. Data on the dentists' evaluation of resources and perceptions of dental service items were collected using a self-administered online survey including 19 dental service items from the British triage system to assess the level of agreement on dental triage items. All responses were recorded within 1 week of request, and a hierarchical cluster analysis was performed to develop a new dental triage system.
The survey included 31 respondents working at 47 correctional institutions; 16, 14, and one respondent provided dental services at one, two, and three institutions, respectively. Among the correctional institutions, 2%, 74%, and 23% were the National Forensic Hospital, prisons, and detention centres, respectively. The hierarchical cluster analysis identified four adjusted dental triage categories: emergency, urgent, routine, and checkups, mainly in accordance with those in the British system, but a few items were reallocated. The new dental triage system was compared to the existing system and found to have higher specificity and sensitivity, indicating that it may be more effective at meeting the oral health needs of inmates in South Korean correctional institutions.
This study developed a newly structured dental triage system by adjusting the British system and evaluated its efficacy compared to the existing system. The new system may help improve the oral health status of inmates in South Korean correctional institutions by providing a more organized approach to dental care provision.
韩国监狱囚犯的口腔健康状况较差，主要是因为资源有限且未建立分诊制度。因此，本研究旨在使用英国分诊系统作为参考，为韩国监狱机构开发新的结构化牙科分诊系统。
本研究纳入了 2020 年在韩国监狱机构工作的 32 名公共卫生牙医，占当年公共卫生牙医总数。使用包括英国分诊系统中 19 项牙科服务项目的在线自我管理调查收集牙医对资源的评估和对牙科服务项目的看法的数据，以评估对牙科分诊项目的共识水平。所有回复均在请求后的 1 周内记录，并进行层次聚类分析以开发新的牙科分诊系统。
该调查包括在 47 个监狱机构工作的 31 名受访者；16、14 和 1 名受访者分别在 1、2 和 3 个机构提供牙科服务。在监狱机构中，分别有 2%、74%和 23%是国立法医医院、监狱和拘留中心。层次聚类分析确定了四个调整后的牙科分诊类别：紧急、紧急、常规和检查，主要与英国系统一致，但也重新分配了一些项目。新的牙科分诊系统与现有系统进行了比较，发现其具有更高的特异性和敏感性，表明它可能更有效地满足韩国监狱囚犯的口腔健康需求。
本研究通过调整英国系统开发了新的结构化牙科分诊系统，并评估了其与现有系统的效果。新系统可以通过提供更有组织的牙科护理方法来帮助改善韩国监狱囚犯的口腔健康状况。
