Assessing the compatibility rates of governmental dentistry centers of Tehran with desirable infection control criteria and the factors involved, 2004

Background: Dentistry systems should meet criteria of infection controls. Higher compatibility will result in more desirable system situation. Objective: To determine the conformation rates of governmental dentistry centers located in south and southwest of Tehran with desirable criteria for infection control and the affecting factors. Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study performed on 74 governmental dentistry centers in south and south west of Tehran province in 2004. A checklist including 10 axes was used to investigate 141 identities for their conformity to meet infectious control criteria via direct observation. Following the analysis of data by SPSS-V11.5 and the application of t-test and Chi square test, the situation of centers were placed into three rankings as follows: Under expected (≤50%), Medium (50-75%), and desirable (>75%). Their desirable degree was tested by 10 presumptive effective factors. Findings: Among 74 investigated centers in the study, 40 centers were located in the south of Tehran, 24 in Shahr-e-Rey, and 10 in Islamshahr with a mean conformation to desirable criteria of 56.3, 52.5, and 60.1%, respectively. Collectively,, 12 centers (16.2%) were placed in under expected, 60 centers (81.1%) in medium, and 2 centers (2.7%) in desirable ranking. Availability of dentists with specialty, being a member of academic staff, and the presence of dental clinic in university hospitals were found to produce a significant impact towards the desirability, statistically (p<0.05). Conclusion: According to our findings, monitoring and solving the problems of centers with under expectable limit to meet the desirable criteria is suggested.