An Evaluation of Factors Affecting Patient’s Decision Making Regarding Dental Prosthetic Treatment

Abstract

BACKGROUND For fabricating dental prostheses that meet patients' demands and have good longevity and function, appropriate treatment planning and decision-making are required. Therefore, not only technical skills and clinical judgment of the dentist are needed, but also patients' attitude toward treatment plays a critical role in post-treatment satisfaction. The aim of this study was to investigate empirically the factors affecting the patients' decision-making and to contribute to improvement of public oral health. METHODS A cross-sectional survey was conducted to determine patients' attitudes towards dental prosthetic treatment. Part A of the questionnaire consisted of demographic information of participants enrolled for the study. Part B of the questionnaire comprised of close ended multiple-choice questions stating the reasons cited by them if they decline the proposed treatment plan. Data was subjected to frequency analysis, cross-tabulation analysis and logistic regression analysis to determine how each independent variable is affecting patient's decision making. RESULTS Among 60 participants, 16 (27 \%) accepted and 44 (73 \%) rejected the proposed treatment plan. About 43.2\% of the participants cited high expenditure as the reason for not accepting the given treatment option. Cross tabulation analysis showed better acceptance in elderly group (p=0.049). Logistic regression analysis was also applied to evaluate the influence of age on the decision-making process which showed that aging increased the logarithm multiplication. CONCLUSIONS In the sample of population studied, most of the patients declined the proposed treatment plan and accepted the alternate one. High expenditure was the most common reason for this rejection. Among all the independent variables, aging increased the logarithm multiplication and had a positive relation with the decision-making process.