Patient Satisfaction Towards Dentist-Patient Interaction Among Patients Attending Outpatient Dental Clinic Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia

ABSTRACT Objective: To determine the satisfaction with the dentist-patient interaction and factors associated with patient satisfaction among patients attending the outpatient dental clinic Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM). Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 229 patients who attended outpatient dental clinic Hospital USM that located in the East Coast region of Malaysia. A self-administered Skala Kepuasan Interaksi Perubatan - 11 (SKIP-11) questionnaire was used to assess the satisfaction towards dentist-patient interaction. Systematic random sampling was applied in this study. The data were analyzed using simple logistic regression analysis to determine the factors associated with patient satisfaction with dentist-patient interaction. Results: The mean age of patients was 32.6 ± 13.9 years, 71.6% of them study up to tertiary level, 31.5% came to for dental check up and 23.6% of them had tooth decay. More than half (64.6%) of the patients were satisfactory with dentist-patient interaction. The satisfaction percentage in the distress relief domain was 60.7%, 56.8% in the rapport domain, and 53.7% in the interaction outcome domain. Satisfaction with dentist-patient interaction was significantly associated with the dentists' characteristics such as age (OR = 0.583, 95%CI 0.44-0.76, p=0.001), gender (OR = 0.386, 95% CI 0.22-0.69, p=0.001) and years of service (OR = 0.294, 95% CI 0.15-0.57, p=0.001). Conclusion: The result showed that slightly more than half of the patients who attended the outpatient dental clinic HUSM were satisfied with the dentist-patient interaction, which was found to be influenced by the characteristics of the dentists. Efforts to improve patient-dentist interaction are recommended to ensure delivery of good quality oral health care.

Modeling the Growth of Bacteria Streptococcus sobrinus Using Exponential Regression

Abstract Objective: To build an exponential regression model based on parameter estimation. Material and Methods: We developed a simple mathematical model to simulate the growth of bacteria and the exponential growth is often used to model population growth as such cell growth while the exponential decay is portraying a declining or decreases in the size of the population. An exponential regression method was used to fit the data and estimate growth parameter values Streptococcus sobrinus using statistical software SPSS version 20. Results: Based on the results of the parameter estimates, which is constant are 83.039 and b1 is 0.005 while R-square is 0.952. According to the R-Square results obtained, the model is good and appropriate. Conclusion: The model can be used to find the potential biological parameters, which may be able to predict the treatment outcome. This study helps researchers to understand the specific growth rate(s), which can be used to best grow the organism.