Table 3 Participants’ opinions on oral health care provision to vulnerable older people who live at home, per (part of the) country

From: Dentists’ opinions on knowledge, attitudes and barriers in providing oral health care to older people living independently in the Netherlands and Flanders (Belgium)

 

The Netherlands (NL)

Flanders (FL)

Total

P-value

 

Δ (agree–disagree)

Δ (agree–disagree)

Δ (agree–disagree)

NL versus FL

K1

Physical, psychological, and social aspects have an impact on oral health care decision making

 

0.92 (0.93–0.01)

0.90 (0.92–0.02)

0.91 (0.93–0.02)

0.55

K2

I have sufficient knowledge of the (adverse) effects of medication used by older people.

 

0.42 (0.56–0.15)

0.30 (0.52–0.21)

0.37 (0.54–0.18)

0.04 a

K3

I am capable of providing oral health care to cognitively impaired vulnerable older people.

 

0.39(0.53–0.14)

0.46 (0.58–0.12)

0.42 (0.55–0.13)

0.14

K4

Dental schools should pay more attention to providing students with adequate knowledge and skills with respect to oral health care provision to vulnerable older people.

 

0.60 (0.67–0.07)

0.68 (0.73–0.06)

0.64 (0.70–0.06)

0.04 a

K5

Daily attention for oral hygiene care is a prerequisite for preventing oral health problems in dentate vulnerable older people.

 

0.95 (0.96–0.01)

0.97 (0.97–0.01)

0.96 (0.97–0.01)

0.24

A1

Every dentist is responsible for providing proper oral health care to housebound frail older people who used to visit his clinic regularly.

 

0.27 (0.49–0.21)

0.24 (0.47–0.23)

0.26 (0.48–0.22)

0.48

A2

I am willing to visit housebound frail older people for a regular dental check-up.

 

-0.08 (0.38–0.46)

0.08 (0.44–0.37)

-0.01 (0.40–0.42)

0.01 a

A3

I have experienced several times over that, at a certain moment, (frail) older people stopped coming to the practice regularly.

 

0.62 (0.73–0.11)

0.70 (0.77–0.08)

0.65 (0.75–0.10)

0.08

A4

From a dentist’s point of view, treating vulnerable older people is not very challenging.

 

-0.36 (0.19–0.55)

-0.27 (0.21–0.48)

-0.32 (0.20–0.52)

0.04 a

B1

Opportunities to refer vulnerable older people with complex oral health problems to a colleague with specific knowledge and skills are limited.

 

0.67 (0.74–0.07)

0.67 (0.75–0.08)

0.67 (0.74–0.08)

0.98

B2

Providing oral health care to vulnerable older people is difficult due to its complexity and practical barriers.

 

15.7 (45.5–29.8)

22.0 (59.9–27.9)

18.5 (47.4–29.0)

0.24

B3

The reimbursement of oral health care provision to vulnerable older people is poor.

 

0.16 (0.46–0.30)

0.22 (0.60–0.28)

0.19 (0.47–0.29)

0.84

B4

My practice is easily accessible for vulnerable older people, without major obstacles.

 

0.72 (0.81–0.10)

0.71 (0.79–0.08)

0.71 (0.80–0.09)

0.48

B5

Usually, oral health care for vulnerable older people implies restraints with regard to technical facilities.

 

0.68 (0.76–0.08)

0.5 2 (0.63–0.11)

0.61 (0.70–0.09)

0.00 a

B6

I regard the poor reimbursement of oral health care provision to vulnerable older people as a barrier to professional dedication to this special patient group.

 

−0.41 (0.15–0.56)

−0.27 (0.19–0.46)

−0.35 (0.17–0.52)

0.00 a

 

n=517–553

n=403–425

n=920–978

 
  1. K1–K5—opinions on knowledge.
  2. A1–A4—opinions on attitude.
  3. B1–B6—opinions on barriers
  4. Agree—proportion dentists who agree with an opinion.
  5. Disagree—proportion dentists who disagree with an opinion.
  6. Δ—mean difference score (Likert type items were recoded from five into three possible answers: (very much) agree (score 1) neutral (score 0) and (very much) disagree (score −1). Following this, a delta score (Δ) was calculated by taking the mean of the scores per statement, which represents the difference between proportion dentists who ‘agree’ minus proportion dentists who ‘disagree’).
  7. a Mann-Whitney U-test: P<05.
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