The relationship between demographic and health-related factors on dental service attendance by older Australians.
OBJECTIVE
To determine factors associated with dental attendance by those of 60 years or older in a population-based sample.


METHODS
Cross-sectional national health survey.


METHODS
The study used data from the Australian 1995 National Health Survey, which consisted of people interviewed by households.


METHODS
A total of 7,544 eligible respondents randomly selected by households from defined statistical areas.Main outcome measures The main outcome investigated in this study was having had a dental visit in the previous 12 months.


RESULTS
Age, income, level of social disadvantage, level of education, uptake of private health insurance, smoking, exercise, self assessment of health and having a health concession card all independently influenced the attendance ratios. In combination, after adjusting for all other factors, factors associated with having visited a dentist for males were age, years of schooling, level of social disadvantage, exercise level index, possession of a health concession card and smoking status. Factors associated with having visited for females were age, education, exercise, smoking status and some levels of the interaction between possession of a health concession card and level of social disadvantage.


CONCLUSIONS
The strong influence of age, education, exercise and smoking status indicated a need to target dental services towards those elderly persons in low attendance groups, which mostly represented disadvantaged groups.
Slack-Smith
L
L
School of Population Health and Senior Lecturer in Oral Epidemiology, School of Dentistry, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Nedlands, Perth, Australia. lindas@cyllene.uwa.edu.au
Hyndman
J
J
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001315:Australia; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003710:Demography; D003729:Dental Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004522:Educational Status; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D007348:Insurance, Health; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking; D035862:Vulnerable Populations