Affiliation:
1. Department of Oral Health Promotion, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences Tokyo Medical and Dental University Tokyo Japan
2. Department of Social Epidemiology, Graduate School of Medicine and School of Public Health Kyoto University Kyoto Japan
3. Department of Medical Statistics, Research & Development Centre Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University Osaka Japan
4. Department of Health and Social Behaviour, Graduate School of Medicine The University of Tokyo Tokyo Japan
5. Institute for Future Initiatives The University of Tokyo Tokyo Japan
6. Japan Agency for Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES Agency) Tokyo Japan
Abstract
AbstractObjectivesExemption from paying dental care costs among recipients of public assistance contributes to universal health care coverage. Although this system might reduce the financial barriers to dental care among patients, there are still several other barriers for public assistance recipients. Therefore, this study examined whether receiving public assistance was associated with a higher prevalence of dental visits for any reason, treatment and prevention.MethodsData were obtained from 16 366 respondents from the 2019 wave of a nationwide cohort study on older adults in Japan. Poisson regression analyses with robust error variance were used to examine the associations between receiving public assistance and dental visits, adjusting for number of teeth, dental pain, periodontal conditions, age, sex, number of family members, education, equivalent household income, working status, instrumental activities of daily living, medical conditions, depressive symptoms, instrumental support and geographical variations.ResultsMore than half of the non‐recipients of public assistance visited a dentist for some reason in the past 6 months. Meanwhile, only 37% of the recipients visited a dentist. In addition, almost half of the non‐recipients had treatment visits, while only 34% of the recipients visited. Furthermore, 46% of the non‐recipients had dental visits for prevention, while 32% of the recipients had preventive visits. In the fully adjusted models, compared to non‐recipients, public assistance recipients were 24% (Prevalence Ratio [PR]: 0.76, 95% Confidence Intervals [CI]: 0.64, 0.90), 23% (PR: 0.77, 95% CI: 0.65, 0.92) and 21% (PR: 0.79, 95% CI: 0.65, 0.95) less likely to have dental visits for any reason, treatment, and prevention, respectively.ConclusionsAlthough recipients were exempted from dental treatment fees, receiving public assistance was associated with a lower prevalence of dental visits for any reason, treatment and prevention. Future studies should identify the barriers to accessing dental care among public assistance recipients to improve dental visits.
Funder
Chiba Foundation for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
Japan Health Promotion and Fitness Foundation
Japan Science and Technology Corporation
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Meiji Yasuda Life Foundation of Health and Welfare
National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology
Niimi University
Sasakawa Sports Foundation
Subject
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health,General Dentistry