 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Arif Ahmed, BDS, PhD, MSPH, Department of Public Health, Georgia Southern University, P.O. Box 8076, Statesboro, GA 30460-8076, (912)486-7753, aahmed@gasou.edu and Herbert M Hazelkorn, DDS, PhD, Health Policy and Administration, SPH, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1601 West Taylor Street, Chicago, IL 60612.
The Surgeon General’s Report on Oral Health emphasizes the need for research to explain the differences among population groups and to develop interventions to eliminate disparities. In many instances, socioeconomic factors, particularly lack of insurance, explain these disparities. However, the mere presence of dental insurance does not automatically guarantee regular dental visits or access to necessary dental care in a timely manner. Therefore, to improve access and utilization, it is important to also understand what factors other than insurance coverage determine an individual’s decision to seek dental care. We studied 448 employees of a large midwestern state university enrolled either in a fee-for-service or in a managed-care dental benefit plan offered by the State. The employees responded to a 37-item self-administered questionnaire on their dental benefit plan characteristics, dental services use history, dental visit characteristics and satisfaction, oral health beliefs and habits, general health status, and demographic characteristics. Oral health beliefs, travel time cost, and having a usual source of care were significant non-monetary predictors of at least one dental visit during the previous twelve months. After controlling for sociodemographic variables, there was no difference in dental visit by plan type. Usual source of dental care was the most robust predictor of dental visit. The study highlights the role of dental insurance in providing usual source of dental care, and the effects of travel time and waiting time on the probability of dental visit. Policy guidelines and suggestions are provided for designing and administering private and public dental benefit plans.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Cost Issues, Access to Health Care
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.