Discrepancies between dental and medical records of cardiac patients in AlHada Armed Forces Hospital, Taif, Saudi Arabia

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: This study aims to estimate the prevalence of medical information discrepancies between dental and medical records of cardiac patients at AlHada Armed Forces Hospital in Taif and to identify the factors contributing to these information discrepancies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study applied a descriptive retrospective medical and dental records review of a stratified proportional sample of 289 cardiac patients, which was extracted from 1154 cardiac patients who visited both the cardiology and dental clinics at the AlHada Armed Forces Hospital between 2007 and June 2012. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 19. RESULTS: The main results of this study are the following: The mean and standard deviation of patient's age was 56 ± 16.9, female patients represented 47.8% of the study population. A total of 78.5% of dental records were documented by dental residents whereas 48.4% of the dentists had more than 6 years of experience. Two hundred and seventy-nine (96.5%) of the 289 dental records had medical information discrepancies compared to the corresponding medical records. One hundred percent of systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatic fever cases were not documented in the dental records followed by 93% of medications, 92% of stroke, and 88.5% of hyperlipidemia, whereas the least prevalent were cardiac disease (26%) and diabetes mellitus (22.2%). CONCLUSION: Approximately 75% of the patients who directly or indirectly accessed the dental services showed discrepancies. The researcher concludes that critical information gaps exist between dental and medical records that mostly attributed to system level problems. A well-established model for efficient communication among medical and dental care providers caring for cardiac patients does not appear to exist. The absence of such a model can threaten the overall health of patients.