Abstract
Introduction: National cross-sectional surveys are generally used to determine the community health and the treatment needs. Some other surveys are useful for evaluating the conditions of practice of caregivers, including both technical and economic aspects. In France, they are mainly performed by institutions to define public health policies and few publications describing an explicit methodology are available. Objective: Through an application in dentistry, the aim is to propose a simple, reproducible and reliable standardized method for cross-sectional studies among health professionals and to determine the characteristics of the practice of periodontology by general dentists (GD) in France. Materials and Methods: This methodology was implemented through a survey conducted in 2019 among 1801 GD in metropolitan France. A sample was drawn from the national register of health professionals (RPPS) by stratified simple random sampling based on regional administrative division and departmental density of dentists. A self-administered questionnaire was allocated in two parts: an initial mailing followed by a dematerialized recall procedure. The information collected concerned socio-demographic characteristics, practice and knowledge in periodontology. The survey methodology was evaluated through the efficiency and the quality of sampling. A descriptive analysis of the collected data and a multivariate logistic regression was conducted were performed to assess the practice and knowledge of periodontal disease management by GD. Results: The response, validity and eligibility rates associated with the data collection were 23.43%, 98.72% and 96.83%. A total of 385 valid questionnaires were obtained and various significant representativeness criteria were identified (age, gender, private practice...). It seemed that the development of periodontal activity in general practice as well as the modalities and knowledge concerning the management of periodontal diseases varied among practitioners and was not in line with national and international recommendations. The performance of periodontal surgery appeared to concern a small proportion of GD within a highly specialized global practice. Discussion et conclusion: The number of responses obtained allowed the statistical exploitation of our results and validated the quality of the recruitment criteria of the sample. The stratified simple random sampling from the RPPS and the method of data collection by mail are suitable methodological elements for national cross-sectional surveys among dentists. Further studies should be carried out to confirm their relevance in dentistry and in other health professionals. These findings are in agreement with the promotion of continuing education of recommendations concerning the prevention and the diagnosis of periodontal disease by GD.