Problems of ensuring the quality of dental care (based on a sociological survey of dentists)

Abstract

Annotation. The low level of dental health of the population of Ukraine determines the relevance of the problem of finding opportunities to improve the quality of dental care. One of the modern methods of monitoring the quality of medical care is sociological research. The purpose of the study: to analyze the problems of providing quality dental care based on the results of a sociological survey of dentists. The sociological study covered two qualitatively and quantitatively representative samples, the first of which included 259 dentists from public health institutions, and the second – 109 dentists from private dental institutions in Kyiv. Statistical processing of sociological research materials involved the use of methods of statistical grouping, tabulation, analysis of absolute and relative distribution series, assessment of the statistical reliability of the difference in sociological survey results (according to the Pearson χ2 test). The results of the sociological study showed significant differences in the resource and process components of quality assurance of dental care in public and private health care institutions. According to dentists from public institutions, there is a need to ensure legal and financial independence and stability of institutions (77.6±2.6%), it is necessary to update medical equipment, materials, tools (87.6±2.0%), ensuring patient satisfaction (71.0±2.8%) and improving the quality of dental care (57.5±3.1%). The current management system of municipal dental institutions and its management staff do not have the economic levers to improve the quality of dental care and do not implement effective measures to ensure it in a market economy. Solving the problem of providing the population of Ukraine with affordable and high-quality dental care requires the development of new organizational mechanisms for managing the quality of dental care in public health institutions.