Socio-Economic determinants of the need for dental care in adults

G. Trohel (1) , V. Bertaud-Gounot (1) , M. Soler (2, 3) , P. Chauvin (2, 3) , Olivier Grimaud (4, 5, 6)

1 LTSI - Laboratoire Traitement du Signal et de l'Image
2 iPLESP - Institut Pierre Louis d'Epidémiologie et de Santé Publique
3 DS3 - ESIM - Déterminants Sociaux de la Santé et du Recours aux Soins
4 REPERES - Recherche en Pharmaco-épidémiologie et Recours aux Soins
5 EHESP - École des Hautes Études en Santé Publique [EHESP]
6 METIS - Département Méthodes quantitatives en santé publique

Background: Oral health has improved in France. However, there are still inequalities related to the socio-economic status. Objectives The aim of this study was to measure the prevalence of dental care needs in an adult population and to identify the demographic, socio-economic and behavioral variables that may explain variations in this parameter. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of the French SIRS cohort (n = 2,997 adults from the Paris region; 2010 data) was carried out to determine the prevalence of self-reported dental care needs relative to demographic, socio-economic and behavioral variables. A logistic regression model was used to identify the variables that were most strongly associated with the level of need. Results: In 2010, the prevalence of the need for dental care in the SIRS cohort was 35.0% (95% CI [32.3-37.8]). It was lower in people with higher education levels (31.3% [27.9-34.6]), without immigrant background (31.3% [28.0-34.6]) and with comprehensive health insurance (social security + complementary health cover; 32.8% [30.2-35.4]). It decreased as the socio-economic status increased, but without following a strict linear change. It was also lower among individuals who had a dental check-up visit in the previous two years. In multivariate analyses, the socioeconomic variables most strongly associated with the need for dental care were: educational attainment (OR = 1.21 [1.02-1.44]), income level (OR = 1.66 [1.92-2.12]) and national origin (OR = 1.53 [1.26-1.86]). Conclusion: These results confirm that the prevalence of dental care needs is higher among adults with low socio-economic status. Education level, income level and also national origin were more strongly associated with the need for dental care than insurance cover level.

Mots clés: Educational attainment; Behavioral and social aspects of health; Welfare (social security); Oral health; Health insurance; Teeth; France; Socioeconomic aspects of health

Domaines: Santé publique et épidémiologie; Economies et finances

G. Trohel, V. Bertaud-Gounot, M. Soler, P. Chauvin, Olivier Grimaud. Socio-Economic determinants of the need for dental care in adults. PLoS ONE, 2016, 11 (7), pp.e0158842. ⟨10.1371/journal.pone.0158842⟩. ⟨hal-01372359⟩