Socioeconomic and psychosocial predictors of dental healthcare use among Brazilian preschool children
Contribuinte(s) |
UNIVERSIDADE DE SÃO PAULO |
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Data(s) |
11/12/2013
11/12/2013
2013
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Resumo |
Abstract Background Disparities in utilization of oral healthcare services have been attributed to socioeconomic and individual behavioral factors. Parents’ socioeconomic status, demographics, schooling, and perceptions of oral health may influence their children’s use of dental services. This cross-sectional study assessed the relationships between socioeconomic and psychosocial factors and the utilization of dental health services by children aged 1–5 years. Methods Data were collected through clinical exams and a structured questionnaire administered during the National Day of Children’s Vaccination. A Poisson regression model was used to estimate prevalence ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Results Data were collected from a total of 478 children. Only 112 (23.68%) were found to have visited a dentist; 67.77% of those had seen the dentist for preventive care. Most (63.11%) used public rather than private services. The use of dental services varied according to parental socioeconomic status; children from low socioeconomic backgrounds and those whose parents rated their oral health as “poor” used dental services less frequently. The reason for visiting the dentist also varied with socioeconomic status, in that children of parents with poor socioeconomic status and who reported their child’s oral health as “fair/poor” were less likely to have visited the dentist for preventive care. Conclusion This study demonstrated that psychosocial and socioeconomic factors are important predictors of the utilization of dental care services. The authors would like to thank all of the participating children and parents for their cooperation, and the Municipal Health Authorities of Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, for the information and authorizations related to this study. |
Identificador |
BMC Oral Health. Oct 13(1), 2013 1472-6831 http://www.producao.usp.br/handle/BDPI/43607 10.1186/1472-6831-13-60 |
Idioma(s) |
eng |
Relação |
BMC Oral Health |
Direitos |
openAccess Macrhy et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. - This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Tipo |
article |