Dental care utilization in the west of Iran: a cross-sectional analysis of socioeconomic determinants
International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare
ISSN: 2056-4902
Article publication date: 19 December 2016
Abstract
Purpose
Oral health is a major public health problem, both in developed and developing countries. The purpose of this paper is to examine the utilization of dental care and identify the main socioeconomic factors affecting the use of these services in the city of Sanandaj, west of Iran, in 2015.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional survey using multistage sampling was conducted to obtain information on the dental care visits of 520 head of households in Sanandaj. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data on the utilization of dental visits. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify the main socioeconomic factors affecting the utilization of dental care in Sanandaj.
Findings
Results showed that 61.3 percent of the respondents visited a dentist at least once in the last year, of which 45 percent visited dentist for restoration, 27.9 percent had extraction and 10.3 percent had a dental checkup. The average number of dentist visits by respondents was 1.9. Regression results indicated a significant association between socioeconomic factors (e.g. income, educational level and employment status) and utilization of dental care.
Originality/value
This study suggested that dental care visit was influenced by socioeconomic status of households. Therefore, strategies aimed at improving dental care utilization for socioeconomically disadvantaged households (e.g. dental health insurance) are required to promote oral health among socioeconomically disadvantaged groups.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Conflict of interest: there is no conflict of interest. Authors’ contributions: all authors contributed to this project and paper equally. All authors read and approved the final draft of the manuscript. The authors gratefully acknowledge all support from the Social Determinants of Health Research Center at the Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences. The authors also thank Dr Delavari from Department of Health Management and Economics (School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences) for improving the use of English language in the manuscript.
Citation
Rezaei, S., Ghahramani, E., Hajizadeh, M., Nouri, B., Bayazidi, S. and Khezrnezhad, F. (2016), "Dental care utilization in the west of Iran: a cross-sectional analysis of socioeconomic determinants", International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare, Vol. 9 No. 4, pp. 235-241. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHRH-06-2016-0008
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited