A longitudinal study of the relative importance of factors related to use of dental services among young adults

Multiple brief interventions in police custody: The MuBIC randomized controlled study for primary prevention in police custody. Protocol and preliminary results of a feasibility study in the Paris metropolitan area, France

BACKGROUND

The 15- to 35-year-old population has little contact with the health care system and is exposed to risk factors. Several studies demonstrated the feasibility of brief interventions (BIs) in different settings, e.g., in addiction medicine during police custody, where arrestees are entitled to a medical examination. Approximately 700,000 individuals are detained in police custody in France annually, and custody is an opportunity for young people to be medically examined. The characteristics of the detainees and previous experience with BIs suggest that custody is an opportunity to contribute to primary prevention. We propose to investigate the feasibility of such a contribution.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this article is to present a study protocol and some preliminary results. The primary research objective is to assess the feasibility of performing brief interventions without a specific topic in police custody settings in arrestees aged 15-35 years. The secondary research objectives include i) testing four strategies for engaging in BIs that maximize the chances of success of the BI; ii) identifying the determinants that can orient the practitioner's choice to use a specific strategy over another one; and iii) analysing the differences between individuals who engage in BIs and those who do not and, in those who do engage, the determinants of success of the intervention.

METHODS

A two-step randomized and prospective study: i) randomization of eligible patients into 4 groups of 500 patients each; analysis of the response rates for each strategy; performance of the BI; and analyses of the associated factors and ii) a real-life, full-scale phase study evaluating the effectiveness of BIs performance of the BI; and analyses of the interventions. Analyses of the determinants of a positive response to BI, of success and of the topic of intervention will be conducted.

EXPECTED RESULTS

The rates of BI performed, rates of success, and characteristics associated with response and with success are the main expected results. Additionally, the development and assessment of filter questions and an improved BI dedicated to primary prevention for police custody settings will be attained.

Dental insurance, service use and health outcomes in Australia: a systematic review

Private health insurance plays a key role in financing dental care in Australia. Having private dental insurance has been associated with higher levels of access to dental care, visiting for a check-up and receiving a favourable pattern of services. Associations with better oral health have also been reported. In the absence of any existing review, this paper aims to systematically review the relationship between dental insurance and dental service use and/or oral health outcomes in Australia. A systematic search of online databases and subsequent sifting resulted in 36 publications, 33 of which were cross sectional and three cohort analyses. Dental service outcomes were more commonly reported than oral health outcomes. There was considerable heterogeneity in the outcome measures reported, for both service use and health outcomes. Overall, the majority of the evidence was from cross sectional studies and few studies reported analyses adjusted for confounding factors. The consolidated evidence points towards a positive association between dental insurance and dental visiting. Dentally insured adults are likely to have more regular access to dental care and have a more favourable pattern of service use than the uninsured. However, evidence of associations between dental insurance and oral health are mixed.

Factors associated with last dental visit or not to visit the dentist by Brazilian adolescents: A population-based study

Objectives

We investigated the factors associated with no dental visit within the last two years by adolescents in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, by using data from the Oral Health Conditions of São Paulo state population Project (SBSP-2015) conducted in 2015.

Methods

This was a cross-sectional epidemiological study with a representative sample of adolescents aged 15 to higher years residing in São Paulo State. The examiners were calibrated and dental visits were measured categorically as 1- Less than 1 year, 2- One to two years, 3 - Three years or more, 4- I have never visited the dentist. Based on the literature we dichotomized the outcome in two groups: response 1 plus 2 against response 3 plus 4. Then, Multilevel Poisson Regression (MPR) was used to estimate the prevalence ratios of last dental visit three years or had never been to a dentist by adolescents compared with those who had visited the dentist within the past two years, with contextual variables as the distal level; sociodemographic variables, mesial; and individual variables, proximal level.

Results

A high percentage of adolescents (84.9%) reported visiting the dentist in the last 2 years. Whereas, 626 (11.6%) had not visited the dentist for over 3 years and 188 (3.4%) had never been. A significantly higher proportion of females than males reported visiting the dentist in the past 2 years (p = 0.003). The oral and dental condition was reported as satisfactory by 4,350 respondents (80.6%), and when they accessed the health service, 2,286 (42.3%) went to the public service. Lower mean family income (1.62PR;95%CI;1.36–1.94); ≥ 1,000 inhabitant/Dental Surgeons (1.25PR;95%IC;1.03–1.56);male (1.26PR;95%CI; 1.11–1.43) non-Caucasian ethnicity (Mulatto:1.30PR;95%CI;1.13–1.50 and Black:1.58PR;95%CI;1.29–1.93); dissatisfaction with the oral health condition (1.20PR;95%CI;1.01–1.45),last visit to the public service versus private service (2.26PR; 95%CI;1.91–2.65) and presenting with periodontal disease in the form of dental calculus as the worst situation (1.38PR; 95%CI; 1.16–1.53) were associated with last visit to the dentist.

Conclusions

A high proportion of adolescents had visited the dentist in the last two years. No dental visit within the last two years by adolescents were associated with contextual, health care system, sociodemographic, personal and oral health status, demonstrating that this is a complex phenomenon. Actions to promote regular dental visits by adolescents in Brazil should take these factors into consideration.

Demand for Dental Services in Shiraz, Iran, 2013

This cross-sectional and descriptive-analytic study aimed to estimate the demands for the use of dental services by Shirazi inhabitants in Iran from June 2013 to October 2013. Six hundred eighty subjects older than 18 years were selected from among the people living in Shiraz, using a multistage sampling method. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 16.0 and Stata 11.0. The results showed that the factors affecting the number of referrals to the dental services centers and the use of these services included the age groups of 28 to 37 and 38 to 47 years, household expenses per month, and having supplementary health insurance coverage (P < .05). According to the results, in order to improve access to dental services and increase the probability of utilizing such services by people in need, the researchers recommend that the authorities should design and develop basic and supplementary health insurance plans to cover different types of dental services, allocate subsidies to dental health services, and increase the knowledge of all the people in different age groups about adherence to dental health principles and prevention of oral and dental diseases.

Medical care transition planning and dental care use for youth with special health care needs during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood: a preliminary explanatory model

The aims of the study were to test the hypotheses that youth with special health care needs (YSHCN) with a medical care transition plan are more likely to use dental care during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood and that different factors are associated with dental utilization for YSHCN with and YSHCN without functional limitations. National Survey of CSHCN (2001) and Survey of Adult Transition and Health (2007) data were analyzed (N = 1,746). The main predictor variable was having a medical care transition plan, defined as having discussed with a doctor how health care needs might change with age and having developed a transition plan. The outcome variable was dental care use in 2001 (adolescence) and 2007 (young adulthood). Multiple variable Poisson regression models with robust standard errors were used to estimate covariate-adjusted relative risks (RR). About 63 % of YSHCN had a medical care transition plan and 73.5 % utilized dental care. YSHCN with a medical care transition plan had a 9 % greater RR of utilizing dental care than YSHCN without a medical care transition plan (RR 1.09; 95 % CI 1.03-1.16). In the models stratified by functional limitation status, having a medical care transition plan was significantly associated with dental care use, but only for YSHCN without functional limitations (RR 1.11; 95 % CI 1.04-1.18). Having a medical care transition plan is significantly associated with dental care use, but only for YSHCN with no functional limitation. Dental care should be an integral part of the comprehensive health care transition planning process for all YSHCN.

The persuasive power of oral health promotion messages: a theory of planned behavior approach to dental checkups among young adults

Although routine dental checkups are important for both oral and overall health, several factors influence young adults' use or nonuse of dental services. The two studies included in this report tested the theory of reasoned action (TRA), the theory of planned behavior (TPB), and an expanded TPB model in predicting young adults' routine dental checkups. Additionally, the study tested the perceived message effectiveness of TPB-based messages. Results support the use of an expanded TPB model (particularly adding satisfaction with the dentist and environmental constraints to the traditional model) for an understanding of routine dental checkup intention and behavior, and, most notably, provide support for the use of subjective norm-based messages to prompt dental checkups. This study lays the groundwork for a health communication campaign encouraging routine dental checkups among young adults. The use of targeting and tailoring to design effective oral health media campaign messages is discussed.