International Research Journal of Medicine and Medical Sciences

19-24

Authors: Eze NC and Uneke CJ

As an important factor of patient’s satisfaction, waiting time, has gained increasing attention in the field of health care services. This study aimed to assess treated patients’ perception on scheduling hospital appointment to reduce waiting time. A cross-sectional study using a convenience sampling method was conducted in a primary health centre in Abakaliki. A self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection and 5 point likert scale was used for analysis. Data were collected from 305 treated patients. Thirty six percent (36%) of the respondents agreed that they spend much time waiting for doctors or nurses when seeking health services in the facility. Thirty six percent (36%) of the respondents said that hospital appointment timing is very necessary, 34% of the respondents agreed very much that timing hospital appointment will make them not to stay too long in the hospital. Two-third of the respondents [64%] described hospital appointment timing as really relevant. Different features of the perceptions indicated the mean ratings (MNRs) and mostly ranged from 2.94 to 4.02 on a 5 point scale. The overall assessment of the perception had MNR at 3.76. In conclusion, adoption of an appointment system and flexible management of doctor scheduling may be an effective way to achieve reduced waiting time. It is recommended that policy back up for timing hospital appointments to improve service delivery and clients’ satisfaction in our health system. More studies should look into patients’ attitude towards long waiting time.

30-36

Authors: Taiwo OA, Oduola TK, Farouk OM, Braimah RO, Ibikunle AA, Labbo JS, Musa K, Awwal N, Ayodele MF and Amao AT

The aim of this study is to investigate the reasons and pattern of tooth extraction in patients attending the outpatient Dental clinic of Sir Yahaya Memorial Specialist Hospital, Kebbi, North-West Nigeria between January 2014 and December 2016. The design was a retrospective study of records of individuals who had tooth extraction. Patients’ records were retrieved and analyzed for gender, age, indication(s) for tooth extraction and type of tooth/teeth extracted. A total of 428 extractions from 213 (51.0%) males and 204 (49.0%) females (M:F = 1.04:1) were undertaken during this period. There was no statistical significance difference in gender against indications for extraction [p = 0.8521, 95% CI = 0.018 (-0.096 to 0.131)]. The age ranged from 1 to 75 years (mean ± SD, 30.7 ± 15.2 years, median = 30.0) with majority of the patients (77.6%) not more than 40 years old. Teeth extracted were for patient in the age group 21-30 years. Three hundred and fifty five patients (85.0%) presented with pain while routine dental check up accounted for 4 (1.0%) cases. The major indications for extraction were dental caries and its sequelae 341 (79.7%), periodontal disease 44 (10.3%) and trauma 20 (4.6%). Teeth in the lower arch were more regularly extracted than upper teeth. The lower first molars were the principally extracted teeth. In conclusion, dental caries and its sequelae was the main reason for removal of teeth in this subset of Nigerian population. Thus, it is imperative to ameliorate the underlying social determinants of dental caries and eliminate barriers limiting access to primary preventive oral health care.