L Slack-Smith1, J Hyndman. 1. School of Population Health and Senior Lecturer in Oral Epidemiology, School of Dentistry, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Nedlands, Perth, Australia. lindas@cyllene.uwa.edu.au
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To determine factors associated with dental attendance by those of 60 years or older in a population-based sample. DESIGN: Cross-sectional national health survey. SETTING: The study used data from the Australian 1995 National Health Survey, which consisted of people interviewed by households. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 7,544 eligible respondents randomly selected by households from defined statistical areas.Main outcome measures The main outcome investigated in this study was having had a dental visit in the previous 12 months. MAIN RESULTS: Age, income, level of social disadvantage, level of education, uptake of private health insurance, smoking, exercise, self assessment of health and having a health concession card all independently influenced the attendance ratios. In combination, after adjusting for all other factors, factors associated with having visited a dentist for males were age, years of schooling, level of social disadvantage, exercise level index, possession of a health concession card and smoking status. Factors associated with having visited for females were age, education, exercise, smoking status and some levels of the interaction between possession of a health concession card and level of social disadvantage. CONCLUSIONS: The strong influence of age, education, exercise and smoking status indicated a need to target dental services towards those elderly persons in low attendance groups, which mostly represented disadvantaged groups.
OBJECTIVE: To determine factors associated with dental attendance by those of 60 years or older in a population-based sample. DESIGN: Cross-sectional national health survey. SETTING: The study used data from the Australian 1995 National Health Survey, which consisted of people interviewed by households. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 7,544 eligible respondents randomly selected by households from defined statistical areas.Main outcome measures The main outcome investigated in this study was having had a dental visit in the previous 12 months. MAIN RESULTS: Age, income, level of social disadvantage, level of education, uptake of private health insurance, smoking, exercise, self assessment of health and having a health concession card all independently influenced the attendance ratios. In combination, after adjusting for all other factors, factors associated with having visited a dentist for males were age, years of schooling, level of social disadvantage, exercise level index, possession of a health concession card and smoking status. Factors associated with having visited for females were age, education, exercise, smoking status and some levels of the interaction between possession of a health concession card and level of social disadvantage. CONCLUSIONS: The strong influence of age, education, exercise and smoking status indicated a need to target dental services towards those elderly persons in low attendance groups, which mostly represented disadvantaged groups.