Socioeconomic differences in self-rated oral health and dental care utilisation after the dental care reform in 2008 in Sweden

BMC Oral Health

Åke Tegelberg¹  Bo Simonsson³  Håkan Flink⁵  Sevek Engström⁴  Anu Molarius² 

[1] Faculty of Odontology, Malmö University, Malmö, Sweden;Department of Public Health Sciences, Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden;Competence Centre for Health, Västmanland County Council, Västerås, Sweden;Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Family Medicine and Preventive Medicine, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden;Public Dental Service, Västmanland County Council, Västerås, Sweden

关键词: Sweden;    Epidemiology;    Dental care attendance;    Health inequality;    Self-rated oral health;    Adult;   

Others  :  1091299
DOI  :  10.1186/1472-6831-14-134

 received in 2014-05-23, accepted in 2014-11-03,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

The aims of this study were to determine self-rated oral health and dental attendance habits among Swedish adults, with special reference to the role of social inequalities, after the Swedish dental care reform in 2008.

Methods

The study is based on a survey questionnaire, sent to 12,235 residents of a Swedish county, in 2012. The age group was 16–84 years: 5,999 (49%) responded. Using chi-square statistics, differences in prevalence of self-rated oral health and regular dental attendance were analysed with respect to gender, age, educational level, family status, employment status and country of birth. Self-rated poor oral health was analysed by multivarite logistic regression adjusting for the different socio-demographic factors, financial security and having refrained from dental treatment for financial reasons.

Results

Three out of four respondents (75%) reported fairly good or very good oral health. Almost 90% claimed to be regular dental attenders. Those who were financially secure reported better oral health. The differences in oral health between those with a cash margin and those without were large whereas the differences between age groups were rather small. About 8% reported that they had refrained from dental treatment for financial reasons during the last three months. Self-rated poor oral health was most common among the unemployed, those on disability pension or on long-term sick leave, those born outside the Nordic countries and those with no cash margin (odds ratios ranging from 2.4 to 4.4). The most important factor contributing to these differences was having refrained from dental treatment for financial reasons.

Conclusion

The results are relevant to strategies intended to reduce social inequalities in oral health, affirming the importance of the provision of equitable access to dental care.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Molarius et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

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