Availability of dental treatment is associated with satisfaction derived from Primary Health Care Services accessed by elderly

Abstract Objective This research evaluated whether having dental treatment available in the primary health care centers of the Brazilian Unified Health System was associated with greater satisfaction with the services accessed. The offering of dental care within the health service that elders usually access may improve their satisfaction with the services as a whole. Material and method In this cross-sectional study, 401 elders living in the districts of Lomba do Pinheiro and Partenon in Porto Alegre, Brazil were interviewed. Elders were selected using a cluster sampling design process from census tract drawings. Result Poisson Regression revealed that age and dental treatment supply were associated with outcome, and age, number of teeth, and the presence of dental treatment were associated with a higher prevalence of satisfaction with health services. Conclusion These results provide new contributions for health system qualification because this study demonstrated the importance of having dental treatment available to improve the satisfaction of older people with the Primary Health Care (PHC) services accessed.摘要 研究目的：本研究旨在评估巴西统一卫生系统（Brazilian Unified Health System）的基层医疗保健（primary health care）中心提供牙科治疗的情况，与就诊服务满意度提升之间是否存在关联。老年人常就诊的卫生服务中配备牙科护理，或可整体提升其对该类服务的满意度。材料与方法：本研究为横断面研究，通过整群抽样法从普查区域中选取研究对象，共访谈了巴西阿雷格里港隆巴杜平涅鲁区与帕滕农区的401名老年人。结果：泊松回归（Poisson Regression）分析结果显示，年龄与牙科治疗供给情况与研究结局存在关联；年龄、剩余牙齿数量以及牙科治疗可及性，均与卫生服务满意度较高的人群占比显著升高相关。结论：本研究结果为卫生系统优化完善提供了新的参考依据，研究证实，提供可及的牙科治疗有助于提升老年人对其所就诊的基层医疗保健（Primary Health Care, PHC）服务的满意度。