Satisfaction with Oral Health Care Services in Uganda

Objective: To investigate satisfaction with dental care received at the last dental appointment among urban and rural communities and to analyse factors influencing their satisfaction scores. Method: A total of 332 subjects (mean age 33.7 yr, response rate 90%) randomly sampled from Mbale (urban, n=183) and Lira (rural, n=149) completed structured questionnaires in February 2005. Focus group discussions were also conducted in three groups from each of the study sites. Results: A total of 98 (53.8%) of participants in Mbale and 45 (30.3%) of those in Lira confirmed dental attendance at least once during the previous 2 years. The corresponding rates of participants who confirmed satisfaction with their own oral health status were 68.9% and 32.4%, while respectively 63.1% and 47.3% expressed satisfaction with their appearance. Overall 68.9% of the urban and 70.3% of the rural participants expressed satisfaction with the services they received. Logistic regression analysis results shows that urban participants more likely to be satisfied with oral health services received were those who had no painful experience at the last visit, those who evaluated their oral condition positively, those who were satisfied with their appearance, and those who were satisfied with the dentist communication and dentist information; odds ratios 1.6, 2.5, 2.8, 3.2 and 4.1, respectively. In the rural area, higher odds of being satisfied with oral health care services were associated with being satisfied with oral condition, dental appearance, dentist communication and dentist information; odds ratios 1.9, 1.5, 2.3 and 3.2, respectively. The care quality aspect most important for overall satisfaction in both Mbale and Lira was “Having received sufficient information about dental problem” Conclusion: Personal interaction with the service provider is important in establishing satisfaction with dental care in urban as well as rural communities.