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Oral Health Care Utilization by US Rural Residents, National Health Interview Survey 1999
Author(s) -
Vargas Clemencia M.,
Dye Bruce A.,
Hayes Kathy
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of public health dentistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.64
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1752-7325
pISSN - 0022-4006
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-7325.2003.tb03493.x
Subject(s) - national health interview survey , oral health , family medicine , health care , medicine , environmental health , national health and nutrition examination survey , nursing , gerontology , political science , population , law
Objective: To compare the dental care utilization practices of rural and urban residents in the United States. Methods: Data on dental care utilization from the 1999 National Health Interview Survey for persons 2 years of age and older (n=42,139) were analyzed by rural/urban status. Percentages and 95 percent confidence intervals were calculated to produce national estimates for having had a visit in the past year, the number of visits, reasons given for last dental visit and for not visiting a dentist, unmet dental needs, and private dental insurance. Results: Rural residents were more likely to report that their last dental visit was because something was “bothering or hurting” (23.3% vs 17.6%) and that they had unmet dental needs (10.1% vs 7.5%). Urban residents were more likely to report having a dental visit in the past year (57.7% vs 66.5%) and having private dental insurance (32.7% vs 37.2%), compared to rural residents. There were no significant differences in most reasons given for not visiting the dentist between rural and urban respondents. Conclusion: Dental care utilization characteristics differ between rural and urban residents in the United States, with rural residents tending to underutilize dental care.