Construction of the Framework of a Prediagnostic Risk Assessment System for Outpatient Dental Care

Objective To establish the framework of a prediagnostic risk assessment system for outpatient dental care and to provide references for ensuring patient safety and improving the quality of medical services.

Methods A total of 15 medical workers in a tertiary-care stomatology hospital in Sichuan Province were selected for qualitative interviews between October 2019 and December 2019. On the basis of the results of literature analysis and the interviews, an expert consultation form for prediagnostic risk assessment system for outpatient dental care was developed. Then, consultation of 10 experts in the field of oral health care and nursing was conducted between June 2020 and December 2020. Eventually, the framework of prediagnostic risk assessment system for outpatient dental care was formulated.

Results Four themes emerged from the qualitative interviews. Firstly, prediagnostic risks of dental outpatients involved mainly syncope, cardiovascular emergencies, and other emergency medical risks. Secondly, medical risks came from three sources, patients, healthcare professionals, and the environment. Thirdly, medical professionals of outpatient dental care had limited awareness of the prediagnostic medical risks of patient. Fourthly, medical professionals of outpatient dental care showed inadequate response to and management of the prediagnostic medical risks of patient. The expert consultation helped finalize the Dental Outpatient Prediagnostic Risk Assessment Questionnaire, which included 3 primary indicators (namely, general information, medical history including history of allergy, and medication assessment), 12 secondary indicators (including patient demographics, patients' status upon admission, oral hygiene habits and special lifestyle habits, sensory disorders, special periods for female patients ie, menstruation, pregnancy, and breastfeeding, allergy history history of oral treatment-related allergies, past/present medical history, types of medication, route of medication administration, duration of medication administration, accuracy of medication administration, and adverse drug reactions), and 39 tertiary indicators. The effective recall rate of the expert consultation form was 100%, expert positivity was 100%, and the authority coefficient was 0.83. Kendall's harmony coefficient ranged from 0.808 to 0.839, which was statistically significant (P<0.001).

Conclusion The framework of prediagnosis risk assessment system for outpatient dental care is found to be scientific and specific, but its applicability still needs further validation in clinical practice.