title: Evidence of the effect of rural background on rural practise in Australian dental practitioners: Does gender play a role?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  People residing outside the capital cities have poorer oral health than their city counterparts. Health workforce shortages and stability issues can have negative health effects on rural populations. There has been an increasing proportion of women entering the dental practitioner workforce in Australia. This study investigated whether dental practitioners who have a rural background are more likely to work in a rural area than those who do not have a rural background; and whether the gender of dental practitioners plays a role.
  
  
  METHODS
  A self-administered questionnaire was sent to a sample of dental practitioners via their professional dental associations. Practice location was assigned as either 'urban' or 'rural' using the Australian Standard Geographical Classification - Remoteness Area categories and measured with demographic characteristics of the respondents. Prevalence ratios (PR) were estimated using Poisson regression with robust standard errors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants with a rural background were more than twice as likely (male PR = 2.23, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.79-6.26; female PR = 2.82, 95% CI = 1.35-5.87) to practise in a rural area than those with an urban background.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Dental practitioners with rural backgrounds were more than twice as likely to work in a rural practice as their urban counterparts.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Rural Health, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Godwin
authors.affiliation: Menzies Institute for Medical Research, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Blizzard
authors.affiliation: Centre for Rural Health, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hoang
authors.affiliation: Centre for Rural Health, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.|Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health, School of Dentistry, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Crocombe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001315:Australia; D003815:Dentists; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008507:Medically Underserved Area; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011365:Professional Practice Location / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019035:Rural Health Services; D012424:Rural Population; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D000078329:Workforce
keywords: Australia; dental practitioner; oral health; rural background; rural health