Caracterização Social dos Pacientes Atendidos na Disciplina de Clínica Integrada da Faculdade de Odontologia de Araçatuba, UNESP / Social Profile of the Patients Treated at the Discipline of Integrated Clinic of the Dental School of Araçatuba, UNESP, Araçatuba, SP, Brazil

Objetivo: Estabelecer a caracterização social dos pacientesatendidos na clínica de graduação da Disciplina de Clínica Integradada Faculdade de Odontologia de Araçatuba (UNESP).Método: Amostra por conveniência compreendendo 289 indivíduos.Os dados foram obtidos pela técnica direta intensiva, tendo porinstrumento um formulário. A classificação social foi determinadaconsiderando os seguintes itens: salário, moradia própria, bens deconsumo e escolaridade, que permitiram enquadra os indivíduosnas classes sociais baixa inferior, baixa média, baixa superior,média inferior, média média, média superior, alta inferior, alta médiae alta superior.Resultados: Verificou-se que 52,9 por cento estão empregados, 49,1 por centosão responsáveis pela manutenção financeira da família, tem faixasalarial familiar entre 2 e 4 salários mínimos (SM) em 44,3 por cento e faixasalarial individual abaixo de 2SM em 41,2 por cento. Além disso, observouseque 3,5por cento são analfabetos, 32,9 por cento possuem habitação própriaregular e 51,2 por cento pertencem à classe baixa superior. A relação entreos fatores econômicos, sociais, culturais e educacionais determinaum padrão de comportamento gerador ou não de saúde, este fatopede mudança no comportamento tanto dos usuários quanto dosprofissionais da saúde no que compete principalmente à açãoeducacional.Conclusão: A maioria dos pacientes atendidos pela disciplina deClínica Integrada é da classe baixa superior, sendo esse dado umimportante indicador de planejamento das ações a seremdesenvolvidas na clínica, favorecendo um atendimento de qualidadee com compromisso social.

Analysis of the ethical aspects of professional confidentiality in dental practice

From the point of view of deontological ethics, privacy is a moral right that patients are entitled to and it is bound to professional confidentiality. Otherwise, the information given by patients to health professionals would not be reliable and a trustable relationship could not be established. The aim of the present study was to assess, by means of questionnaires with open and closed questions, the awareness and attitudes of 100 dentists working in the city of Andradina, São Paulo State, Brazil, with respect to professional confidentiality in dental practice. Most dentists (91.43 percent) reported to have instructed their assistants on professional confidentiality. However, 44.29 percent of the interviewees showed to act contradictorily as reported talking about the clinical cases of their patients to their friends or spouses. The great majority of professionals (98.57 percent) believed that it is important to have classes on Ethics and Bioethics during graduation and, when asked about their knowledge of the penalties imposed for breach of professional confidentiality, only 48.57 percent of them declared to be aware of it. Only 28.57 percent of the interviewees affirmed to have exclusive access to the files; 67.14 percent reported that that files were also accessed by their secretary; 1.43 percent answered that their spouses also had access, and 2.86 percent did not answer. From the results of the present survey, it could be observed that, although dentists affirmed to be aware of professional confidentiality, their attitudes did not adhere to ethical and legal requirements. This stand of health professionals has contributed to violate professional ethics and the law itself, bringing problems both to the professional and to the patient.