Table 4. Dentist’ characteristics and professional attitudes on oral health care to vulnerable elderly, per (part of the) country.

	The Netherlands (NL)		Flanders (FL)		Comparisons
	Less 1st quartile (groupI)	High 4th quartile (group III)	Less 1st quartile (group II)	More 4th quartile (group IV)	P-values NL-less versus NL-more (I–III)	P-values FL-less versus FL-more (II–IV)	P-values NL-less versus FL-less (I–II)	P-values NL-more versus FL-more (III–IV)
	NL-less	NL-more	FL-less	FL-more
Female dentists (in %)	32.6	24.7	61.8	49.6	0.13	0.06	0.00a	0.00a
Mean age of dentists	49.0	48.4	46.7	47.5	0.62	0.55	0.09	0.42
Mean number of patients treated per week	98.3	106.0	51.3	56.4	0.30	0.07	0.00a	0.00a
Mean number of patients treated per week, aged 75 years and over	2.6	8.8	3.0	6.5	0.00a	0.00a	0.32	0.02a
Δ K1	0.92	0.96	0.90	0.90	0.21	0.89	0.86	0.11
Δ K2	0.37	0.45	0.17	0.24	0.31	0.51	0.07	0.03b
Δ K3	0.18	0.41	0.28	0.50	0.01b	0.02b	0.27	0.31
Δ K4	0.70	0.63	0.69	0.71	0.34	0.83	0.72	0.25
Δ K5	0.92	0.96	0.98	0.96	0.10	0.17	0.03b	0.46
Δ A1	0.28	0.32	0.23	0.24	0.66	0.99	0.70	0.37
Δ A2	-0.17	-0.19	-0.07	0.23	0.88	0.01b	0.37	0.00b
Δ A3	0.51	0.71	0.57	0.73	0.05b	0.04b	0.93	0.89
Δ A4	-0.31	-0.41	-0.30	-0.28	0.37	0.92	0.64	0.11
Δ B1	0.68	0.75	0.69	0.70	0.32	0.95	0.73	0.57
Δ B2	0.26	0.17	0.35	0.13	0.38	0.03b	0.34	0.67
Δ B3	0.58	0.53	0.49	0.62	0.85	0.18	0.51	0.34
Δ B4	0.62	0.76	0.57	0.74	0.10	0.01b	0.32	0.85
Δ B5	0.64	0.71	0.54	0.60	0.45	0.79	0.18	0.04b
Δ B6	−0.32	-0.46	-0.40	-0.27	0.12	0.17	0.47	0.02b
Positive about guideline	0.79	0.77	0.77	0.85	0.67	0.11	0.66	0.11
N	114–141	136–150	102–116	127–144

Δ—mean difference score (Likert type items were recoded from five into three possible answers: (very much) agree (score 1) neutral (score 0) and (very much) disagree (score −1). Following this, a delta score (Δ) was calculated by taking the mean of the scores per statement, which represents the difference between proportion dentists who ‘agree’ minus proportion dentists who ‘disagree’.).

K1–K5—opinions on knowledge.

K1—Physical, psychological, and social aspects have an impact on oral health care decision-making.

K2—I have sufficient knowledge of the (adverse) effects of medication used by older people.

K3—I am capable of providing oral health care to cognitively impaired frail older people.

K4—Dental schools should pay more attention to teaching students adequate knowledge and skills with respect to oral health care provision to vulnerable older people.

K5—Daily attention for oral hygiene is a prerequisite for preventing oral health problems in dentate vulnerable older people.

A1–A4 opinions on attitudes.

A1—Every dentist is responsible for providing proper oral health care to housebound frail older people who used to visit his clinic regularly.

A2—I am willing to visit housebound frail older people for a regular dental check-up.

A3—I have experienced several times over that, at a certain moment, (frail) older people stopped coming to the clinic regularly.

A4—From a dentist’s point of view, treating vulnerable older people is not very challenging.

B1–B6—opinions on barriers.

B1—Opportunities to refer vulnerable older people with complex oral health care problems to a colleague with specific knowledge and skills are limited.

B2—Providing oral health care to vulnerable older people is difficult due to its complexity and practical barriers.

B3—The reimbursement of oral health care provision to vulnerable older people is poor.

B4—My practice is easily accessible for vulnerable older people, without major obstacles.

B5—Usually, oral health care to vulnerable older people implies restraints with regard to technical facilities.

B6—Poor reimbursement of oral health care provision to vulnerable older people is a barrier for my professional dedication to this special patient group.

^aF-test: P<0.05.

^bMan–Whitney U-test: P<0.05.