Facilities, Equipment and Medical Services of Dental Clinics Expected from the Parents of Students of Special-Needs Schools for the Physically Disabled：Analyses of Questionnaire Survey for Parents

Abstract

A questionnaire survey was conducted targeting the parents of physically disabled children of three special-needs schools in two cities to investigate their expectations of home dentists. The questionnaire forms were distributed to 334 families and 229（68.6％）responded. One hundred and sixty-nine（50.6％）respondents answered that their children visit home dentists at least once a year, and the questionnaire forms collected from these respondents were analyzed.

The results showed that 100 respondents considered “high expertise in dentistry for the disabled” as a good point, followed by “doctor’s hospitality”（97 respondents）, “staff’s hospitality”（88 respondents）and “being located in the neighborhood”（64 respondents）. “Facilities for barrier-free environment”, “being adjoined to medical clinics” and “being adjoined to care or rehabilitation facilities” were evaluated as good by 50, 22 and 17 respondents, respectively.

Ninety-two respondents wrote their opinions on the question “What do you expect from a dental clinic?” Key words were then picked up from the sentences and classified. The key words frequently found in the sentences were those related to “special-needs dentistry”（25 respondents）, “barrier-free（including rest rooms）”（24 respondents）, “hospitality for the patients”（20 respondents）, “comfort of dental chairs（including posture during dental care）”（19 respondents）and “considerations in dental treatment”（19 respondents）.

These results indicate that the parents of physically disabled children were concerned about the specialty and hospitality of dental clinics, while they were not particularly satisfied with the barrier-free level.