Exploring the Quality of Life for Saudi Patients Utilizing Dental Healthcare Services: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Over three billion people globally are affected by oral diseases. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has declared a new vision for 2030, which includes an aim to improve the quality of healthcare in the Kingdom while maintaining the efficacy of spending. The Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP) is a quality of life instrument that helps evaluate health status. This study aims to evaluate equity in accessing dental services and the integration of different types of dental services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A systematic review of the MEDLINE, ClinicalTrials.gov, and EBSCOhost Research Databases was conducted on August 1, 2021. To answer the research question, the SPIDER search tool that identified the sample, the phenomenon of interest, design, evaluation, and research type prior to conducting the review was adapted. Multiple steps were followed to identify the results. The first step was scanning and selecting the related titles. The second step involved reviewing the abstracts, and the third step involved scanning the full manuscript for all criteria to determine and validate the eligibility of the articles. Twenty-two articles remained in the final stage of the study. The first study applying the OHIP instrument in the KSA was in 2010, and the latest was in 2021. In terms of cities, nine cities accounted for research within eight administrative regions. Of the 4794 patients recruited within these reviewed articles, the highest number of patients reported was 1141 for fashion braces, while the minimum number of patients was 32 for conventional complete dentures. This study shows that the Arabic OHIP tool was successfully adapted by multiple dental studies in the KSA with various dental services and results were reported. The reviewed studies suggest that equity and integration of dental health services are well established in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, the major role of dental academic researchers has been identified.