| Abstrakt: |
Objective: Oral health is a key component of universal health coverage. There continues to be a high proportion of people who cannot afford dental care in Aotearoa New Zealand. We aimed to compare hospital events between people who faced cost barriers to dental care and those who did not. Methods: We undertook an observational cohort study, using linked New Zealand Health Survey (NZHS), inpatient and outpatient hospitalisation data. A total of 71,502 people who took part in at least one NZHS between 2013/14 and 2018/19 were linked. Cox proportional hazards models were used to compare times to hospitalisation between those who did and did not face a barrier to care. Results: A total of 30, 234 people reported unmet need for dental care due to cost, 62% of these were female. Having adjusted for age, gender, ethnicity, and area-level deprivation, people who faced a cost barrier were 19% (hazard ratio (HR) 1.19,95% confidence interval (Cl): 1.16-1.22) more likely to have an inpatient hospitalisation all causes), 22% (HR 1.22, 1.19-1.25) more likely to have an outpatient visit and 22% (HR 1.22, 1.19-1.25) more likely to present to an emergency department than those who did not face a cost barrier to dental care. Conclusions: People with unmet oral health care need require hospital services earlier than their counterparts without cost barriers to oral care. In light of such an association, this study supports the removal of cost barriers to oral health care services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
