Prevalence of and factors associated with dental service utilization among early elderly in Lithuania
Permanent link
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/24448Date
2022-01-02Type
Journal articleTidsskriftartikkel
Peer reviewed
Author
Drachev, Sergei Nikolaevich; Puriene, Alina; Aleksejuniene, Jolanta; Stankeviciene, Indre; Stangvaltaite-Mouhat, LinaAbstract
Methods: The cross-sectional study conducted in 2017–2019 included a nationally representative stratifed sample of 370 Lithuanian early elderly aged 65–74 years (response rate of 54.5%). Information on predisposing factors (age, sex, nationality and education), enabling factor (residence), need-based factors (status of teeth, oral pain or discom‑ fort, and dry mouth), general health, personal health practices and perceived stress was obtained from a structured, self-administered questionnaire. Clinically-assessed need-based factors included number of missing teeth and dental treatment need. Multivariable Poisson regression with robust variance estimates was used.
Results: A total of 239 study participants (64.6%) reported a dental visit during the last year and 338 (91.4%) needed dental treatments. A higher level of education (adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR]=1.21, 95% confdence interval [CI]:1.04–1.40), pain or discomfort in teeth/mouth (aPR=1.35, 95%CI: 1.13–1.62) and lower number of missing teeth (aPR=0.99, 95%CI: 0.98–1.00) were associated with DSU.
Conclusions: Even though majority of early elderly needed dental treatments, only two-thirds visited a dentist dur‑ ing the last year. Predisposing and need-based factors were signifcant predictors of having a dental visit in the last year. A national oral health program for Lithuanian elderly with the focus on regular preventive dental check-ups is needed. More studies, both quantitative and qualitative, are warranted to investigate in depth the barriers for DSU among elderly in Lithuania.