Relationship between a self-reported health questionnaire and laboratory tests at initial office visits

Background: Dental patients routinely complete a medical questionnaire and have an oral interview during their initial visit, but may have undiagnosed systemic problems which can affect their dental treatment. Methods: Thirty-nine consecutive patients referred for a periodontal evalua tion completed a medical questionnaire and an oral interview. They were ref erred to a hospital laboratory for an urinalysis, complete blood count, and a standard blood chemistry panel. Results: The self-reported medical history responses were compared with the laboratory data and several abnormalities were noted. Abnormal levels were found with cholesterol, (26/39 patients, 67%); triglycerides, (13/39, 33%) ; glucose, (6/39, 15%); eosinophils, (18/39, 46%); and monocytes, (10/39, 2 6%). Smokers (17/39, 44%) had a higher number of abnormal levels or percent ages of cholesterol, triglycerides, basophils, lymphocytes, eosinophils, an d monocytes. Gender differences were seen in elevated triglyceride levels, abnormal aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT ), and self-reported cardiovascular disease. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that many patients are unaware of thei r current medical status and a significant number had undiagnosed abnormali ties.