Interval Between Onset of Symptom and Time of Presentation and Associated Diagnosis Among Paediatric Patient in Dental Clinic, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State Nigeria

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND The interval between onset of symptoms and time of presentation is the time it takes from the sensed abnormality in the normal function of the state of the health to when the patient comes to a healthcare facility for management and care. Late presentation remains a challenge in spite of the numerous roles played by the government (Ibikunle et al., 2020). Despite the creation of Primary Health facilities which are expected to improve early presentation to health facilities, research have shown that there is an associated delay in their presentation. In Nigeria, to enhance paediatric oral health outcomes, it can be useful in identifying populations at-risk, create tailored intervention methods, and allocate resources as efficiently as possible. The data collected was analysed using IBM SPSS software (version 26.0), descriptive statisics was used to present the finding and the result will be discussed. METHODS A retrospective review of consecutive case notes of children that have visited the dental clinic from December 2022 backwards till the sample size is achieved. A minimum sample size of 300 was generated for the study. Children with special health care need and those that had sought dental care before presenting to Dental Centre, UCH were excluded. The data was collated using a proforma involving the duration of the presenting complaint, onset of symptoms and the diagnosis for the presenting complaint. RESULT: A total of 294 case notes were retrieved and used in this study. The mean (SD) age of the participants was 8.52 (3.78) ranging from 1day old-15 years of age. The mean (±S.D) of the Onset of Presentation with a value of 67.17( ±105.36) and the time of Presentation being 58.89 (±94.51). The most frequent diagnosis being malocclusion, followed by Caries, GCMG- generalized, chronic, marginal gingivitis, retained deciduous, trauma, tumor. With a p value < 0.001, there is a statically significant association between the onset of symptoms, time of presentation and its associated diagnosis. CONCLUSION: The average time of presentation of pediatric patients at Dental Center is 1 year 6 weeks with malocclusion being the major diagnosis. There is an association between the onset of symptoms, time of presentation and associated diagnosis. Therefore, late presentation can change the diagnosis of the patient.