Alcohol use, predisposing, enabling, and oral health need variables as predictors of preventive and emergency dental service use.
Analyses of the 2002 U.S. National Health and Examination Survey (1,490 adults) examined relationships between alcohol frequency, quantity, and total weekly consumption and preventive and emergency dental service use during the past 12 months. Logistic regression analyses indicated a significant, small percentage of variance in dental service use explained by alcohol use (1%), controlling for predisposing (19%), enabling (18%), or need (4%) covariates. Preventive and emergency service use were associated with higher frequency drinking, but lower total consumption (significant only for preventive services). Limitations and implications for brief alcohol interventions in dental practice are discussed.
Neff
James Alan
JA
Old Dominion University, Community Health, Norfolk, Virginia 23505, USA. janeff@odu.edu
Lynch
Carleen
C
Downs
Joyce
J
D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D016208:Databases, Factual; D003752:Dental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D009909:Oral Health; D011313:Preventive Dentistry