Dataset Information

Interruptions in a dental setting and evaluating the efficacy of an intervention: A pilot study.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Interruptions during dental treatment are frequent, and often impact provider satisfaction and processing times We investigate the source and duration of such interruptions at a German dental clinic.

Methods

A pre-post approach was adopted at this dental clinic. This included direct observations of 3 dentists and 3 dental hygienists, and a survey of providers. Following that, an intervention (switchable 'Do Not Enter' sign) was chosen, and a pilot study was conducted to evaluate if the chosen intervention can reduce processing time and improve provider satisfaction. Additional observations and surveys were performed afterwards.

Results

Pre-intervention data indicated that interruptions have the highest negative impact on provider satisfaction at this clinic as well as on processing time during longer and more complex treatments, where a minor error due to an interruption could lead to rework of 30 minutes and more. The total number of interruptions dropped by 72.5% after the intervention, short interruptions (< 1min) by 86%. Provider survey indicated improvement due to the intervention in perceived workload, provider work satisfaction, patient safety and stress.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates that a switchable sign can substantially reduce the number of interruptions in this dental clinic. It also shows the potential of improving the work environment by reducing interruptions to the dental providers.

SUBMITTER: Ziegler C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10994382 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Interruptions in a dental setting and evaluating the efficacy of an intervention: A pilot study.

Ziegler Carsten C Parikh Pratik J PJ

PloS one 20240404 4

<h4>Introduction</h4>Interruptions during dental treatment are frequent, and often impact provider satisfaction and processing times We investigate the source and duration of such interruptions at a German dental clinic.<h4>Methods</h4>A pre-post approach was adopted at this dental clinic. This included direct observations of 3 dentists and 3 dental hygienists, and a survey of providers. Following that, an intervention (switchable 'Do Not Enter' sign) was chosen, and a pilot study was conducted ...[more]

PMID: 38573896

Similar Datasets

Project description:Scotland's 2022 suicide prevention strategy recommends building skills and knowledge among healthcare staff who play a role in preventing suicide. A quality improvement project (QIP) in relation to this was initiated because several patients attending dental appointments disclosed suicidal thoughts and/or plans to attempt death by suicide. Dental staff and students involved expressed feeling ill-equipped at how to manage this situation. This initial QIP aimed to establish routine screening, identification and signposting of dental outpatients identified as having an increased risk of suicide during attendance at any dental clinic within the Dental Hospital. Several Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles ensued. First, to understand the problem, a scoping literature search on the role of dental professionals in preventing suicide and the availability of suicide risk awareness training frameworks for non-medical healthcare staff revealed few publications and no identified training frameworks. This was PDSA1. To gain insight into the local culture in relation to the QIP aims, two further cycles were undertaken. These examined whether dental patients were routinely screened for mental health conditions, and dental staff and student attitudes. Screening activity was measured, a new medical history intervention was implemented and a significant improvement in the number of patients being screened was seen (PDSA2). At the time of writing, the newly introduced medical history form is now used routinely to screen all outpatients attending the Dental Hospital, where 60 000 outpatients' appointments are delivered annually. PDSA3 sought dental staff and student views on whether suicide risk awareness is part of their role. This found suicide risk awareness is considered part of the dental professionals' role, but a lack of training, and a desire for training was expressed. With no suitable training frameworks, PDSA4 aimed to design, implement and evaluate a pilot training educational intervention by a clinical psychologist. Sixteen dental care professionals attended the workshop. To measure training effectiveness, participants completed pre-training (baseline) and post-training questionnaires to assess their self-efficacy around suicide awareness. Improvements in self-efficacy following training occurred across all domains, demonstrating a successful intervention which can be upscaled.

Project description:IntroductionWe have previously shown that Environmental Enrichment (EE), a multi-modal psychosocial intervention consisting of increased social interaction, novelty, and open spaces, improved disease presentation, anxiety, and immune-related disturbances in the rat model of endometriosis. However, there is a knowledge gap regarding the effects of EE interventions in patients with this painful, inflammatory chronic disease.AimTo adapt and test the efficacy of an EE intervention on pelvic pain, mental health, perceived stress, quality of life, and systemic inflammation in endometriosis patients through a randomized clinical trial (RCT).Materials and methodsA multidisciplinary team with expertise in physiology, neuroscience, psychology, and women's health adapted and implemented a two-arm RCT comparing an EE intervention with a wait-list control group. Six EE modules administered on alternate weeks were provided to patients in the intervention (N = 29); controls received education only. Survey data and biospecimens were collected at baseline, end-of-study, and 3-months post-intervention to assess pain (Brief Pain Inventory, BPI), endometriosis-related quality of life-QoL (Endometriosis Health Profile-30, EHP30), anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7, GAD7), depression (Patient Health Questionnaire for Depression 8, PHQ8), pain catastrophizing (Pain Catastrophizing Score, PCS), stress (Perceived Stress Scale-14, PSS14), and saliva cortisol levels (AM, PM).ResultsCompared to the wait-list controls, participants in the EE intervention showed significantly decreased GAD-7 scores at the end of the intervention and 3-month follow-up. Depression, perceived stress, and QoL improved at the 3-month follow-up compared to baseline. While pain levels did not improve, they significantly correlated with anxiety, depression, QoL and pain catastrophizing scores.ConclusionThis pilot RCT demonstrated significant improvements in anxiety and depressive symptoms, QoL, and perceived stress, supporting enriched environments as an integrative psychosocial intervention to be used as adjuvant to the standard of care for endometriosis pain.

Dataset Information

Interruptions in a dental setting and evaluating the efficacy of an intervention: A pilot study.

Introduction

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Interruptions in a dental setting and evaluating the efficacy of an intervention: A pilot study.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets