Abstract
Abstract
Background
The aim of our study was to evaluate the allocation of dental resources and explore access to dental care in Taiwan. In addition, we tried to understand the spatiotemporal characteristics of dental care quality and analyze the relationship between dental care quality and areas with deficiencies in dental resources.
Methods
The study used a two-step floating catchment area to calculate the dental resources accessibility and explore the spatiotemporal distributions of dental care quality. The association between dental care quality and spatial accessibility was analyzed using a spatial error model.
Results
Most areas with deficient dental resources and lower dental care quality were remote townships, agricultural towns, or aging towns with spatial clustering. The quality of children's preventive dental care had increased over time. Most highly urbanized areas had higher dental care quality. The quality of some dental care types such as children's preventive care and full-mouth calculous removal was associated with higher accessibility.
Conclusions
Understanding the spatiotemporal distribution of both dental care accessibility and quality can assist in allocation of dental care resources. Adequate dental resources may elevate dental care quality. Suggestions include policies to balance dental resources and routinely monitor improvement in areas with deficient dental care.
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Reference39 articles.
1. World Health Organization. Dentists (per 10 000 population). https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/dentists-(per-10-000-population). Accessed 6 Mar 2020.
2. Chen C-Y, Yang Y-C. Improve the quality of medical care in an aged and doctor-deficiency rural area: the Tianliao model mobile healthcare program. Taiwan Geriatr Gerontol. 2007;2(3):209–24.
3. Gabriel M, Cayetano MH, Galante ML, Carrer FC, Dussault G, Araujo ME. A Global overview of the geographical distribution of dentists: a scoping review. JDR Clin Transl Res. 2018;3(3):229–37.
4. Susi L, Mascarenhas AK. Using a geographical information system to map the distribution of dentists in Ohio. J Am Dent Assoc. 2002;133(5):636–42.
5. Wijewardena B, Ranasinghe N, Kruger E, Tennant M. The distribution of dental health specialist locations in Sri Lanka. Community Dent Health. 2018;35(4):241–6.
Cited by
2 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献