Abstract
Objective: To evaluate the barriers for accessing dental care for people with physical disabilities. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study with 191 caregivers of individuals with physical disabilities attending a rehabilitation center in Sao Paulo, who responded to a questionnaire about information related to barriers (user, caregiver, government and professional) found in dental treatment, visit to the dentist and age of the first dental appointment. Data were collected from medical records regarding age, sex, family income and medical diagnosis of patients. Statistical analysis was performed using the MedCalc for Windows software version 12.3.0. The Chi-square test was applied for heterogeneity, with significance level of 5%. Results: The main barriers identified by caregivers (p<0.0001) were patient fear/anxiety (66.8%), patient requiring accompaniment to access treatment (87.4%), treatment costs (82.7%), lack of treatment at primary health care units (73.3%) and professionals not specialized in dental care for people with physical disabilities (67.0%). It was observed that caregivers of individuals with cerebral palsy reported greater physical barriers for accessing dental treatment compared to caregivers of other diagnoses (p=0.0307). Conclusion: Individuals with physical disabilities face financial constraints, fear of dental treatment, lack of treatment options in public services and, perhaps most importantly, lack of qualified professionals interested in treating such individuals.
Highlights
People with disabilities (PD) have one or more temporary or permanent mental, physical, sensory, emotional, growth or medical limitations that prevent them from being submitted to conventional dental interventions.Based on estimates for the population in 2010, 15% of the world's population would be living with some disability [1]
Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study with 191 caregivers of individuals with physical disabilities attending a rehabilitation center in São Paulo, who responded to a questionnaire about information related to barriers found in dental treatment, visit to the dentist and age of the first dental appointment
The main barriers identified by caregivers (p
Summary
People with disabilities (PD) have one or more temporary or permanent mental, physical, sensory, emotional, growth or medical limitations that prevent them from being submitted to conventional dental interventions. Based on estimates for the population in 2010, 15% of the world's population would be living with some disability [1]. This number is higher than estimates made by the World Health Organization (WHO) in the 1970s, which suggested an overall prevalence of 10% [2]. In Brazil, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), 45.6 million people (23.9%) have some kind of disability, whether intellectual, motor or physical, sensory or multiple [3]. The National Health Policy for People with Disabilities, supported by various national laws, guarantees the rights of people with disabilities in many different fields, including dental care [4,6]
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