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KMID : 0355220100350040265
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Journal of Korean Academy Oral Medicine
2010 Volume.35 No. 4 p.265 ~ p.279
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Expectations of the First Visit to Orofacial Pain Clinic for the Patients with Temporomandibular Disorders
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Won Sang-Yeon
Kim Hye-Kyung
Kim Mee-Eun
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Abstract
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Understanding patients’ expectation for health visits and providing appropriate care may increase patients’ satisfaction with health care, leading to more positive treatment outcome. The study aimed to investigate expectations of the patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMD) at their first visit to university-based orofacial pain clinic and to evaluate any relation with duration of pain, presence of previous treatment, pain severity and pain interference.
Inclusion criterion was patients aged over and 18 years old and diagnosed as TMD during 3 months’ period from Aug to Nov 2010. They were asked to complete the questionnaires for patients’ expectation and the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) at waiting room prior to consultation. 322 TMD patients participated in the study(M:F=1:1.5, mean age=36 years old).
The study indicated that the most important top 3 expectations were ‘cure of pain’, ‘understanding their problem’ and ‘doctor-patient communication’ in order. This finding was not affected by gender, duration and previous treatment history but affected by sub-category of TMD and BPI pain severity and pain interference. ‘Pain relief’ and ‘understanding their problems’ were relatively highlighted in the patients with muscle disorders and combination (joint-muscle) disorders of TMD than those with joint disorders who wanted communication and further investigation relatively more (p=0.000). While expectation for pain relief was expected more with increase of pain severity and interference, patients with mild level of pain severity and interference expected communication and further investigation relatively more (p=0.000, 0.017, respectively).
Based on the results of the study, though pain relief was the primary concern for TMD patients suffering from pain, their satisfaction with care may be increased by explanation for etiology and mechanism of TMD to make them understand their problems better and doctor-patient communication and collaborative decision-making for treatment. Importance of patient-centered consultations and availability of written material or web sites for patient information should be stressed out.
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KEYWORD
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Communication, Expectation, TMD, Understanding
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