Kruger E, Tennant M
The Centre for Rural and Remote Oral Health, The University of Western Australia.
Aust Dent J. 2006 Mar;51(1):29-32. doi: 10.1111/j.1834-7819.2006.tb00397.x.
In Australia there is growing demand for dental services. This leads to more pressure on the oral health service providers, and in particular government subsidized dental care. Against this backdrop it is important that government dental services (rationed to health care cardholders) are provided equitably on a basis of need, not access. The primary hypothesis investigated in this study was that there would be an even distribution of patients referred for government subsidized orthodontic care across Western Australia when regionally adjusted for socio-economic status.
Data were obtained as a de-identified waiting list for orthodontic treatment at The University of Western Australia. The data included all patients on the orthodontic waiting list as at December 2003.
Significant differences between ARIA categories were detected when all waiting list entries were distributed. However, the trend was towards more entries (adjusted for population) in highly accessible areas. It was found that people from relatively wealthy areas tended to be more likely to be on the waiting list than those from more disadvantaged regions.
In summary, the results of this study indicate that there is an uneven distribution of demand for orthodontics waiting list positions across Western Australian postcode areas by remoteness (ARIA) and by socio-economic disadvantage (IRSD). The results suggest that demand for subsidized orthodontic care may be influenced by the general demand for treatment of that region and not on what would be expected to be an even need for treatment across all health care cardholders.
在澳大利亚，对牙科服务的需求日益增长。这给口腔健康服务提供者带来了更大压力，尤其是政府补贴的牙科护理。在此背景下，重要的是政府牙科服务（分配给医疗保健卡持有者）应基于需求而非可及性公平提供。本研究调查的主要假设是，在根据社会经济地位进行区域调整后，西澳大利亚州接受政府补贴正畸治疗转诊的患者分布会均匀。
数据来自西澳大利亚大学正畸治疗的匿名等候名单。数据包括截至2003年12月正畸等候名单上的所有患者。
在对所有等候名单登记进行分布时，发现澳大利亚地区索引（ARIA）类别之间存在显著差异。然而，趋势是在交通便利地区有更多登记（根据人口调整）。研究发现，相对富裕地区的人比处境更不利地区的人更有可能在等候名单上。
总之，本研究结果表明，西澳大利亚邮政编码地区对正畸等候名单位置的需求按偏远程度（ARIA）和社会经济劣势（IRSD）分布不均。结果表明，对补贴正畸护理的需求可能受该地区总体治疗需求影响，而非所有医疗保健卡持有者对治疗的均匀需求。
