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. 2013 Oct 3:13:381.
doi: 10.1186/1472-6963-13-381.

Trends in dental visiting avoidance due to cost in Australia, 1994 to 2010: an age-period-cohort analysis

Sergio Chrisopoulos  1 , Liana Luzzi, David S Brennan
Affiliations

Trends in dental visiting avoidance due to cost in Australia, 1994 to 2010: an age-period-cohort analysis

Sergio Chrisopoulos et al. BMC Health Serv Res. .

Abstract

Background: The cost of dental care may be a barrier to regular dental attendance with the proportion of the Australian population avoiding or delaying care due to cost increasing since 1994. This paper explores the extent to which age, period and cohort factors have contributed to the variation in avoiding or delaying visiting a dentist because of cost.

Methods: Data were obtained from four national dental telephone interview surveys of Australian residents aged five years and over conducted in 1994, 1999, 2004 and 2010 (response rates 48%-72%). The trend in the percentage of persons avoiding or delaying visiting a dentist because of cost was analysed by means of a standard cohort table and more formal age-period-cohort analyses using a nested models framework.

Results: There was an overall increase in the proportion of people avoiding or delaying visiting a dentist indicating the presence of period effects. Financial barriers were also associated with age such that the likelihood of avoiding because of cost was highest for those in their mid-late twenties and lowest in both children and older adults. Cohort effects were also present although the pattern of effects differed between cohorts.

Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that, in addition to the increase in costs associated with dental care, policies targeting specific age groups and income levels may be contributing to the inequality in access to dental care.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Proportion avoiding or delaying visiting a dentist in the previous year because of cost, by age and year of data collection.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Proportion of dentate persons who avoided or delayed visiting the dentist in the previous 12 months because of cost, by age and birth cohort.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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    1. Chrisopoulos S, Beckwith K, Harford JE. Oral health and dental care in Australia: key facts and figures 2011. Cat. No. Den214. AIHW: Canberra; 2012.
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    1. Harford JE, Ellershaw AC, Spencer AJ. Trends in access to dental care among Australian adults 1994–2008. Dental statistics and research series no. 55. Cat. No. DEN 204. AIHW: Canberra; 2011.

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