Investigating perceptions of patient-centred care in orthodontics.

OBJECTIVES: To assess and compare patient and clinician perceptions of patient-centredness for adults about to commence active orthodontic treatment, and to assess whether the following variables affected perceptions of patient-centredness: patient gender and age; clinician gender and grade; and stage of treatment. DESIGN: A prospective, cross-sectional questionnaire study. SETTING: Eastman Dental Hospital, UCLH NHS Foundation Trust. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 112 adult patients and 30 clinicians completed 224 questionnaires (112 patient and 112 clinician questionnaires). METHODS: A validated, dyadic questionnaire, the '9-Item Patient Perception of Patient-Centredness' (PPPC), was used to collect data from both patients and their corresponding clinicians after initial assessment or records/treatment planning consultations. Total PPPC scores (possible score range = 9-36) were calculated for each patient and clinician to ascertain the extent to which they perceived they were engaging in patient-centredness, where higher scores corresponded with better performance. RESULTS: Patients and clinicians perceived high engagement in patient-centredness with median scores of 32/36 and 29/36, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference between total scores with patients perceiving consultations to be more patient-centred than clinicians (P < 0.001). None of the variables (patient gender and age, clinician gender and grade, stage of treatment) were statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Patients and clinicians both perceived high engagement in patient-centredness. Patients perceived consultations to be significantly more patient-centred than clinicians (P < 0.001).