Relation between demographic and epidemiological characteristics and permanency under a dental health care program for HIV infected patients.

The association between factors involved in health care and the health status of the people has been proven. The use of health care services, particularly in the case of patients who suffer from chronic pathologies, has been the object of many studies aimed at establishing factors which contribute to guarantee permanence in treatment and implementation of health care controls. The purpose of the present study was to identify the response of HIV infected or AIDS patients to the oral health care program and establish the association between permanence in treatment and the presence of risk factors, epidemiological or demographic conditions of the users. Ninety patients selected at random from the 300 who attended the Clinic for High Risk Patient Care, School of Dentistry, University of Buenos Aires (CLAPAR, Spanish acronym) during 1994-1995 were included in this study. The patients were assigned to one of seven groups, according to their permanence in treatment and commitment to the program during the phase of maintenance in health. Each of these categories was characterized in terms of age, sex, educational level, place of residence (CIRFS, 1990), type of job, type of health coverage and place where healthcare was received, risk behavior and date of positive serological diagnosis. The frequency of each variable was established. Contingency tables were employed to establish the statistical significance of the association between the different variables and the patient categories. The data revealed that 24.2% of the patients performed occasional or emergency consultation, 57.1% achieved discharge with or without the assistance of the social worker or are still in treatment and 18.7% abandoned the program. Significant association were found between the response to odontological treatment and the following variables: place of residence, date of positive serological diagnosis, and risk behavior. We may conclude that certain demographic, epidemiological or life-related factors would be linked to the response to odontological treatment.