Geographic Distribution Of Patients Attending A Private Dental Institution

Abstract

Background: A little detail is known about the geographical catchment area of dental hospitals. With no previous literature of this kind, information on dental demographic, dental needs, dental providers and the distance from the closest dental institution is necessary to plan for effective delivery of public oral health services. Objectives: To assess the geographical distribution of patients attending the institution to define the catchment zones and to investigate the changes in the pattern of geographic distribution of patients Methodology: New patients visiting SDM College of Dental Sciences and Hospital in the randomly selected months of March and September in the calendar year 2012, 2013 and 2014 meeting the inclusion criteria were included in the sample. Demographic details along with their location of residence were recorded. Results: A total of 13, 600 patients came from a distance up to 300 km out of which 95% of patients came from within a distance of 100kms with the majority travelling a distance of 6-10.9kms in March and September of 2012, 2013 and 2014 Conclusion: The dental hospital has a fairly large catchment zone covering a distance up to 100kms from which 95 % patients reported overlapping those of private dental clinics