Access to Dental Care and Depressive Illness: Results from the Korea National Health Nutrition Examination Survey
- Authors
- Kyung Hee Choi; Sangyoon Shin; Euni Lee; Seok-Woo Lee
- Issue Date
- Apr-2020
- Publisher
- MDPI
- Keywords
- depression; oral health; dental visit; real-world data
- Citation
- MEDICINA-LITHUANIA, v.56, no.4
- Journal Title
- MEDICINA-LITHUANIA
- Volume
- 56
- Number
- 4
- URI
- https://scholarworks.bwise.kr/gachon/handle/2020.sw.gachon/84173
- DOI
- 10.3390/medicina56040189
- ISSN
- 1010-660X
- Abstract
- Background and Objectives: Recent evidence suggests that oral health is associated with various systemic diseases including psychiatric illnesses. This study examined the association between depression and access to dental care in Korean adults. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional evaluation was performed using data from the Sixth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2014. The general characteristics of the participants, the current depression status, and issues with access to dental care were collected to evaluate the factors for not being able to make dental visits according to care needs. Results: The study population comprised a total of 5976 participants who were 19 years of age and older and represented 40.7 million Koreans. A multivariable logistic regression analysis with weighted observations revealed that participants with current depressive illness were about two times more likely to express that they could not make dental visits in spite of their perceived care needs (adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 2.097; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.046-4.203). The reasons for not making dental visits included financial problems, perceived importance of the dental problem, and fear of visiting dental professionals. Conclusions: Korean adults with current depressive illness were less likely to make dental visits when they had dental care needs. To improve dental health accessibility for patients with depressive illness, coordinated efforts can be considered involving multidisciplinary health care professionals.
- Files in This Item
- There are no files associated with this item.
- Appears in
Collections - 약학대학 > 약학과 > 1. Journal Articles
![qrcode](https://api.qrserver.com/v1/create-qr-code/?size=55x55&data=https://scholarworks.bwise.kr/gachon/handle/2020.sw.gachon/84173)
Items in ScholarWorks are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.