Is Accessibility to Dental Care Facilities in Rural Areas Associated with Number of Teeth in Elderly Residents?
Is Accessibility to Dental Care Facilities in Rural Areas Associated with Number of Teeth in Elderly Residents?
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DOI：
10.3390/ijerph14030327
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发表时间：
2017-03-21
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Nabika T
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Hamano T;Takeda M;Tominaga K;Sundquist K;Nabika T
鉴于农村地区的公共交通网络不如城市地区发达，无法进入牙科保健设施可能会成为常规牙科检查的障碍。因此，我们假设到牙齿护理机构的距离是牙齿脱落的一个风险因素。这项研究的目的是测试在日本农村地区的老年居民中，通过地理信息系统估计的到牙齿护理机构的距离和通过口腔检查评估的牙齿数量之间是否存在关联。数据是2016年在日本岛根县进行的一项横断面研究中收集的。在排除了缺少数据的参与者(n=21)后，我们分析了710名参与者的数据。其中男性占40.6%，平均年龄(标准差)为67.4(7.4)岁。此外，68.0%(n=483)的患者至少有20颗牙齿。我们发现，在调整了潜在混杂因素后，到牙科保健机构的距离与牙齿数量(少于20颗)显著相关(优势比=1.07，95%可信区间=1.01-1.12)。这一结果表明，无法轻松获得牙科护理设施的个人可能是牙科护理的重要目标。
Given that public transportation networks are less developed in rural than in urban areas, a lack of accessibility to dental care facilities could be a barrier to routine dental checkups. Thus, we hypothesized that the distance to the dental care facilities is a risk factor for tooth loss. The aim of this study was to test whether there is an association between the distance to dental care facilities, estimated by geographic information systems, and number of teeth, assessed by an oral examination, among elderly residents of a rural area in Japan. Data were collected in 2016 from a cross-sectional study conducted in Shimane prefecture, Japan. After excluding participants with missing data (n = 21), we analyzed data from 710 participants. Of them, 40.6% were male and the mean (standard deviation) age was 67.4 (7.4) years. Further, 68.0% (n = 483) had at least 20 teeth. We found that the distance to dental care facilities was significantly associated with the number of teeth (less than 20) (odds ratio = 1.07, 95% confidence interval = 1.01–1.12) after adjustment for potential confounders. This result suggested that individuals without easy access to dental care facilities may be important targets for dental care.