The Pattern of medical conditions among patients attending oral and maxillofacial surgery department at Islamabad Dental Hospital, Islamabad. A one year survey

Objectives: A survey was conducted at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery of Islamabad Medical and Dental College to determine the pattern and frequency of comorbidities that may present in patients visiting the department.
Methods: All patients visiting the department regardless of age and gender were included in the study during October 2013 to september 2014. The patient’s medical history was recorded on a predesigned Proforma to find out the pattern and frequency of different medical problems including hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hepatitis, anemia, gastrointestinal disorders etc. Incomplete history proforma were excluded from study.
Results: A total of 12960 patients visited the oral surgery OPD during the period of October 2013 to September 2014. From a total of 12960 patients, 6095 patients (47%) were having comorbidities. The age of patients was grouped into decades with majority in the 4^th decades of life. Slight female gender predominance was present in this study with a female (51%) to male (49%) ratio of 1.04 : 1. The most common reason to visit the department by the patients was the need for extraction (80.0%). Patients presenting with single comorbid disease were 83.2% and patients having double or multiple more than double were 16.8%.
In this study, hypertension was the most commonly presenting comorbid accounting for 28% followed by diabetes mellitus 20% and other cardiac issues 15%.
Conclusions: This study confirms that there is significant prevalence of medical comorbids in patients requiring dental treatment. This is an important issue regarding patient health care and safety. Dental education needs modification in curriculum to train the future dental health provider as more medically oriented.