The utilization of dental care services according to health insurance coverage in Catalonia (Spain).
The aim of this study was to assess the relationship of dental care service use with health insurance and its evolution. The Catalan Health Interview Survey is a cross-sectional study conducted in 1994 (n = 15 000) and 2001-2 (n = 8400) by interviews at home to a representative sample of Catalonia (Spain). All the estimates were obtained by applying weights to restore the representativeness of the Catalonia general population. In the bivariate analysis, age, gender, social class and health insurance coverage were statistically associated with a dental visit in the previous year (P < 0.001). Analysis with logistic regression showed that health insurance status has a statistically significant association with utilization (P < 0.001), which was independent of the other socio-economic factors (age, gender, country of birth, and social class). However, the falling trend of differences by health insurance coverage is of note (adjusted OR = 2.2 and 1.5 at 1994 and 2002, respectively); as well as the positive evolution of the overall rate of dental service care use in the previous year, from 26.7% in 1994 to 34.3% in 2002. Future studies will be needed to monitor this tendency.
Pizarro
Vladimir
V
Health Services Research Unit, Institut Municipal d'Investigació Mèdica (IMIM-Hospital del Mar), Barcelona, Spain.
Ferrer
Montse
M
Domingo-Salvany
Antonia
A
Benach
Joan
J
Borrell
Carme
C
Pont
Angels
A
Schiaffino
Anna
A
Almansa
Josue
J
Tresserras
Ricard
R
Alonso
Jordi
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003752:Dental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017057:Medically Uninsured / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D009790:Occupations / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012737:Sex Factors; D012923:Social Class; D013030:Spain; D013218:State Dentistry; D055815:Young Adult