Use of dental services by immigrant Canadians.
Although the health status and health behaviour of foreign-born residents of Canada have been well documented, little is known about their use of dental services. The authors, hypothesizing that foreign-born people would have lower utilization of dental care services than native-born Canadians, undertook this study to identify the factors associated with dental visits by Canadians aged 12 years and older and to compare the use of dental services by foreign-born and native-born populations. According to data derived from Statistics Canada"s 1996-97 National Population Health Survey, foreign-born people were somewhat more likely than native-born Canadians to have visited a dentist within the previous year. Higher levels of education, greater income adequacy, and the presence of dental insurance were associated with greater use of dental services, whereas increasing age was associated with lower use. Although immigrants reported greater use of dental services than native-born Canadians, a variety of barriers to care may be present in this population.
School of Geography and EarthSciences, McMaster University, 1280 Main St.W., Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1.
K Bruce
KB
Newbold
Amish
A
Patel
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001208:Asia / Q000208:ethnology; D002170:Canada; D002648:Child; D003752:Dental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004522:Educational Status; D004641:Emigration and Immigration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005060:Europe / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D007347:Insurance, Dental / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D044382:Population Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012737:Sex Factors; D012923:Social Class