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

作者：Anu Molarius, Sevek Engström, Håkan Flink, Bo Simonsson, Åke Tegelberg · 发表于：BMC Oral Health · 年份：2014 · DOI：10.1186/1472-6831-14-134 · 被引用次数：105 · 研究领域：Dental Health and Care Utilization、Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations、Health disparities and outcomes

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 cas...