Household Chaos and Appointment Compliance in a Pediatric Dental Population

Purpose: To identify associations between the effect of family chaos on dental appointment compliance in a pediatric dental population. Method: Caregivers of children presenting to the UIC pediatric dental clinic were invited to participate in this study. Recruited caregivers were asked screening questions to verify inclusion and exclusion criteria. After the survey was completed, patient’s dmft, follow-up appointment date, and follow-up appointment compliance was recorded. Results: Seventy-four participants were eligible for the study. Seventy-one percent of families lived within Cook County. The average family had a mean of 3 adults and a mean of 3 children living in the home. Fifty-four percent of the children were between the ages of 3-6, 38% were between ages of 7-10, and 8% were between ages of 11-15. Thirty-four percent children were Caucasian, 26% were African American, 4% were Asian, 5% were Native American Indian and 15% were multiracial. 53% children were Hispanic. Eighty-two percent of patients showed up to their appointments; 18% were late over 15 minutes or failed their appointments. Thirty-one percent of patients had CHAOS scores of under 40 and 62% of patients had scores between 41-60. The average CHAOS score was 45.85. P-value of 0.143 was calculated for a t-test to see if there was a significant difference in CHAOS scores with patients who showed to their appointments versus patients who did not show. Conclusion: There was no difference in CHAOS scores with patients who showed for their appointments and patients who did not show or were 15 minutes late.