Dental care satisfaction among adult population in Isfahan, Iran and its influencing factors

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the level of dental care satisfaction among Iranian adult population and to identify socio-demographic factors and factors related to dental service that affect satisfaction. METHODS: A self-administrated valid and reliable 21-item questionnaire was designed and distributed among 1360 adult population living in Isfahan, Iran, using multi-stage proportional cluster sampling. It consisted of 5 main sections including demographic questions, perceived oral health status, oral health behaviors, barriers in receiving the demanded care and some 5-point Likert scale questions to assess the satisfaction level. Chi-square and analysis of variance were used to compare variables. People were classified as satisfied/dissatisfied based on their total score with score of 26 as the cut-off point. A logistic regression model was used to identify the factors affecting the level of satisfaction and to estimate their effect size. RESULTS: The mean age of participants was 31.2 ± 11.3 and they mostly reported to have dental visits during the last year. The mean satisfaction score was 3.34 out of 5 (53% were satisfied) and the least and the most satisfaction was in regard to waiting time and the convenience to access, respectively. Logistic regression showed that participants in lower age group [odds ratio (OR) = 0.7], those who reported their oral health status as poor (OR = 0.8) and those who had to spend more time to reach dental care setting (OR = 0.6) and those who had to wait more (OR = 0.5) were less satisfied. CONCLUSION: About 53% of participants were satisfied which was much lower than percentage of satisfied people in developed countries and the level of satisfaction was associated with socio-demographic, behavioral and also dental service. KEYWORDS: Patient Satisfaction; Dental Care; Adult; Ira