Evaluation of Dentists' Practice in Obtaining and Recording Medical and Pharmacological History of Patients in Yazd City in 2020

Dental profession has an ethical and legal responsibility in patient care. A properly maintained patient record is a very important aspect of this patient care. The aim of this study was to evaluate dentists' practice in obtaining and recording the medical and pharmacological history of patients in Yazd City in 2020.

In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 197 dentists working in Yazd City were selected during the study and their practice in obtaining and recording medical history was evaluated using a valid questionnaire. Data were analyzed by SPSS16 statistical software t-test and Pearson correlation coefficient.

Out of 197 dentists participating in this study, 93 (52.8%) were male and 104 (47.2%) were female. Their mean age was 39.37± 8.36 years and their mean clinical experience was 6.5± 9.25 years. The mean score of dentists' practice in obtaining and recording the medical and pharmacological history was 61.30±4.95 (range 45-72) out of 72 points. There was no statistically significant difference between the mean score of dentists' practice by gender, clinical experience, university of study and degree (P-value>0.05), but there was a statistically significant relationship between dentists' age and their practice score (P-value=0.040).

Based on the results of the present study, the mean practice source of dentists in obtaining and recording the medical and pharmacological history of patients was good. The effect of gender, university of study and degree on dentists' practice was not significant. However, with increasing age and experience in dentistry, the practice score of dentists was lower.