Evaluation of Patients’ Awareness of Their Blood Pressure and Blood Glucose at the Dental Faculty of Islamic Azad University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, in 2018

Background and Aim: Most dentists rely on the patient's history when assessing a patient's medical status although many patients are unaware of their medical condition. We aimed to evaluate patients' knowledge of their blood pressure (BP) and blood glucose (BG) at the Dental Faculty of Islamic Azad University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, in 2018. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 200 patients aged 18 years and over were enrolled with consent. Patients' body mass index (BMI) was classified according to the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. Patients' BP was measured from the right arm and was considered abnormal when BP≥140/90 mmHg based on the JNC7 criteria. BG levels were measured from the capillary blood of the third finger of patients’ hands and were classified according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA) criteria. Data were analyzed using the chi-square test. Results: Eighty-nine male patients (44%) and 111 female patients (56%) with the mean age of 44±14.1 years were studied. Thirty percent of the subjects had high BP, and 21% had diabetes. Thirteen percent and 9.5% of the subjects were not aware of their high BP and BG, respectively. Lack of awareness of hypertension was significantly associated with being male and with a BMI higher than normal. Lack of awareness of high BG was associated with being male, older age, a BMI higher than normal, and lower education level (P<0.05). Conclusion: It seems that knowledge of BP and BG in dental patients is inadequate and requires more precision and sensitivity in assessing these cases before any dental intervention.