Socioeconomic inequalities in the use of dental care services in Europe: what is the role of public coverage?
Objectives The aim of this study was to analyse inequalities in the use of dental care services according to socioeconomic position (SEP) in individuals aged ≥50 years in European countries in 2006, to examine the association between the degree of public coverage of dental services and the extent of...
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Published in | Community dentistry and oral epidemiology Vol. 42; no. 2; pp. 97 - 105 |
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Main Authors | , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Denmark
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
01.04.2014
Wiley-VCH Verlag |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Objectives
The aim of this study was to analyse inequalities in the use of dental care services according to socioeconomic position (SEP) in individuals aged ≥50 years in European countries in 2006, to examine the association between the degree of public coverage of dental services and the extent of inequalities, and specifically to determine whether countries with higher public health coverage show lower inequalities.
Methods
We carried out a cross‐sectional study of 12 364 men and 14 692 women aged ≥50 years from 11 European countries. Data were extracted from the second wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE 2006). The dependent variable was use of dental care services within the previous year, and the independent variables were education level as a measure of SEP, whether services were covered to some degree by the country's public health system, and chewing ability as a marker of individuals’ need for dental services. Age‐standardized prevalence of the use of dental care as a function of SEP was calculated, and age‐adjusted indices of relative inequality (RII) were computed for each type of dental coverage, sex and chewing ability.
Results
Socioeconomic inequalities in the use of dental care services were higher in countries where no public dental care cover was provided than in countries where there was some degree of public coverage. For example, men with chewing ability from countries with dental care coverage had a RII of 1.39 (95%CI: 1.29–1.51), while those from countries without coverage had a RII of 1.96 (95%CI: 1.72–2.23). Women without chewing ability from countries with dental care coverage had a RII of 2.15 (95%CI: 1.82–2.52), while those from countries without coverage had a RII of 3.02 (95%CI: 2.47–3.69).
Conclusions
Dental systems relying on public coverage seem to show lower inequalities in their use, thus confirming the potential benefits of such systems. |
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Bibliography: | U.S. National Institute on Aging - No. U01 AG09740-13S2; No. P01 AG005842; No. P01 AG08291; No. P30 AG12815; No. Y1-AG-4553-01; No. OGHA 04-064; No. IAG BSR06-11; No. R21 AG025169 ark:/67375/WNG-W7Z5PF2W-5 ArticleID:CDOE12056 European Commission Appendix S1. Coverage of oral health services for adults and older people in the countries under study around 2006. Appendix S2. Slope index of inequality (SII) (highest education level compared with lowest) and 95% confidence intervals according to sex and chewing ability, stratified by country and type of dental care coverage. istex:4382528DCE38C4E16F80FA6AD6235F9C5C372255 ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0301-5661 1600-0528 |
DOI: | 10.1111/cdoe.12056 |