J Korean Acad Oral Health.  2023 Dec;47(4):172-177. 10.11149/jkaoh.2023.47.4.172.

Research on dental service utilization and untreated conditions among Koreans aged 65 and above

• Jang JE
• Jun SH
• Jeong SR

• KMID: 2550170
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.11149/jkaoh.2023.47.4.172

Abstract

Objectives
This study used data from the seventh National Health and Nutrition Survey, a dataset which signifies that dental services in the country exhibit relatively low health insurance coverage and high copay rates compared to other medical healthcare services. We surveyed the utilization rate of dental care and the prevalence of untreated conditions among Korean elders aged over 65. Furthermore, we aimed to present policy implications to improve dental care accessibility and expand health insurance coverage for elders, especially vulnerable individuals who are bedridden or living alone.
Methods
We used raw data from the seventh National Health and Nutrition Survey to investigate Korean elders’ dental service utilization and untreated conditions. We opted for elders aged over 65 and finalized 1,712 subjects for the analysis. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS 25.0 (IBM Corp., Chicago, IL, USA). Groups were detailed in terms of strata of variation estimation and elders aged over 65, cluster of district enumeration, and weighted oral survey. We generated a scheme file and employed complex sampling analysis with a statistical significance level of P<0.05.
Results
This study intended to survey the rate of dental care use and untreated care of Korean elders over 65 using the seventh National Health and Nutrition Survey data which represents our country. 1. Dental care use rate based on general traits showed statistically significant relevance (P<0.01) with lower age, higher income, higher education level, residence of ‘Dong’, and ‘with’ private insurance. 2. In untreated rate of dental care by general traits showed the significant total of 26.1% with female, lower income, lower education level, ‘recipient’ of basic living, and subjectively poor status of oral health. 3. The multiple answers of the patients who went to the dentists over the past year showed dental care details of dental checkups 54.3%, prosthetic dentistry 32.1%, preventive treatment 30.9%, cavity of root canal treatment 25.7%, gum treatment 17.1%, and tooth extraction 14.7%. 4. The reasons for untreated dental care of those untreated subjects showed the highest 34.0% of economic reason, mild condition 32.3%, lack of time 8.2%, and scared of treatment 8.0% in order. Based on this analysis, we intended to suggest policy implications for the necessity of dental checkup expansion and the activation of prevention treatment.
Conclusions
To improve dental care accessibility for elders aged 65 and above, especially the vulnerable individuals who are bedridden or living alone, it is imperative to expand outpatient insurance coverage and tailor the dental services as per their specific needs. Shifting the focus from treatment-oriented health insurance to preventive measures and examination service expansion and invigoration is essential to improve dental health and overall quality of life. It is deduced that expansion of dental care health insurance coverage and checkup services is critical for vulnerable elders, such as those who are bedridden or living alone.

Keyword

Dentistry use rate; Elders over 65; National health and nutrition survey; Untreated care rate

Reference

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