Factors Associated With Unmet Dental Care Needs of Older Adults

Oral health is an important component of health in later life. Tooth loss and oral disease have negative influence on the functional, emotional, and social aspects of quality of life. A timely visit to dental clinics is beneficial for maintaining oral health through early detection and treatment of oral diseases. However, compared with other conditions, oral health care is characterized by its low health insurance coverage. Economic barrier is still high due to non-covered services for dental care. The purpose of this study is to examine factors associated with unmet dental care needs in older adults living in the community. This study analyzed 1,419 older adults aged 65 years and older who participated in both the health questionnaire survey and oral examination survey based on data from the Fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted in 2010. The dependent variable was unmet dental care needs and the independent variables were composed of predisposing factors, enabling factors, and need factors. Frequency and percentage of respondents' general characteristics were calculated. Chi-square tests were used to analyze the unmet dental care needs according to the subjects' predisposing, enabling, and need factors. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the determinants of unmet dental care needs of older adults. The percentage of unmet dental care needs among older people accounted for 27.9%. Compared with men (23.2%), women (31.2%) showed higher unmet dental care needs. Adjusting for covariates, age, household income, difficulty chewing, and the presence of permanent tooth caries were significantly associated with unmet dental care needs. Compared with those aged 75 years and older, the odds of unmet dental care needs of the 65-69 years age group was 1.99 times higher. Lower household income was associated with a higher likelihood of not receiving dental care when needed. For oral health-related variables, unmet dental care needs was significantly higher among those with chewing difficulty (odds ratio [OR] = 2.14, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.57, 2.92) and permanent tooth caries (OR = 1.93, 95% CI: 1.32, 2.82). Older adults who are younger, with lower income, chewing difficulty, and dental caries demonstrated higher unmet dental care needs. The results suggest that unmet dental care needs are higher especially among those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged and are vulnerable in oral health.

Author dc:creator

• 채, 송이

Contributors dc:contributor

• 이, 윤환
• 보건대학원
• 201230021

• 노인
• 치과
• 의료이용
• 미충족 의료이용
• Older adults
• Dental care
• Unmet need

Language dc:language

ko

Identifier

http://dcoll.ajou.ac.kr:9080/dcollection/jsp/common/DcLoOrgPer.jsp?sItemId=000000016815
000000016815

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.ajou.ac.kr:201003/10825