Accuracy of familial reporting of a child's medical history in a dental clinic setting.

PURPOSE Accurate reporting of medical history information is essential to provide safe and successful dental treatment to children. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of health histories reported by parents/guardians of pediatric patients presenting for dental treatment by comparing them to the histories provided in the child's medical chart. METHODS Data collection from the dental record was performed using the medical history questionnaire from the child's first visit as the data source. Data collected focused on knowledge of the child's medical conditions, current medications, allergies, immunization status, and need for prophylactic antibiotics. Corresponding data were collected from the child's medical chart. Statistical analysis included kappa analysis and calculation of sensitivity, specificity, and failure-to-report rates. RESULTS The study group consisted of 226 children (99 girls, 127 boys), with a mean age of 10.35 years. The patients were divided into 2 groups based on their medical status (healthy vs medically compromised). For the medically compromised children, parents had high sensitivity reporting rates (>75% sensitivity) for only 2 out of the 9 medical categories. For both groups, <50% of the medicine, allergy, and need for prophylaxis categories had sensitivity rates above 75%. Failure-to-report rates of 40% to 60% were common, with some as high as 80%. Weighted failure-to-report rates were consistently higher for medically compromised children compared to healthy children. CONCLUSIONS Parents/guardians of children presenting for dental treatment are not always able to accurately report vital medical history information. Therefore, pediatric dentists need to more closely examine the dental health questionnaire and make every attempt to obtain accurate information to provide appropriate care for each patient.