Summary
Oral ulcers cause high levels of impairment of the patients’ quality of life. Therefore, patients having oral ulcers visit clinicians while seeking treatment. This study aims to investigate the extent of patients’ suffering till reaching the correct clinician specialty, and therefore, proper diagnosis and treatment. The study included 62 diagnosed oral ulcer patients. They filled a questionnaire about previously visited clinicians and their specialties, causes of their referral and Oral Health Impact Profile-14 indicating their quality of life. The study revealed that participants visit a mean number of 2.93 clinicians before reaching a specialist. Furthermore, the number of the visited clinicians was positively correlated to the impact of the oral ulcer on quality of life. The study reflects the degree of unnecessary suffering of patients having oral ulcers due to unnecessary delay of diagnosis. It, thereby, highlights the necessity for higher awareness about Oral Medicine specialty among medical practitioners and among general population as well.
KEY WORDS: OHRQoL, oral health-related quality of life, OHIP-14, oral health impact profile.
How to cite this article
GAMAL-ABDELNASER, A.; MAHMOUD, E. A.; IBRAHIUM, M. Z. & GAAFAR, S. How difficult is it for patients having oral ulcers to get diagnosed?. Int. J. Odontostomat., 15(4):823-826, 2021.
