Zabos Georgina P, Northridge Mary E, Ro Marguerite J, Trinh Chau, Vaughan Roger, Howard Joyce Moon, Lamster Ira, Bassett Mary T, Cohall Alwyn T
School of Dental and Oral Surgery, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.
Am J Public Health. 2008 Sep;98(9 Suppl):S102-5. doi: 10.2105/ajph.98.supplement_1.s102.
Profound and growing disparities exist in oral health among certain US populations. We sought here to determine the prevalence of oral health complaints among Harlem adults by measures of social class, as well as their access to oral health care.
A population-based survey of adults in Central Harlem was conducted from 1992 to 1994. Two questions on oral health were included: whether participants had experienced problems with their teeth or gums during the past 12 months and, if so, whether they had seen a dentist.
Of 50 health conditions queried about, problems with teeth or gums were the chief complaint among participants (30%). Those more likely to report oral health problems than other participants had annual household incomes of less than $9000 (36%), were unemployed (34%), and lacked health insurance (34%). The privately insured were almost twice as likely to have seen a dentist for oral health problems (87%) than were the uninsured (48%).
There is an urgent need to provide oral health services for adults in Harlem. Integrating oral health into comprehensive primary care is one promising mechanism.
美国某些人群的口腔健康存在着严重且日益扩大的差异。我们在此试图通过社会阶层衡量标准以及哈莱姆成年人获得口腔医疗服务的情况，来确定口腔健康问题的患病率。
1992年至1994年对哈莱姆中部的成年人进行了一项基于人群的调查。调查包含两个关于口腔健康的问题：参与者在过去12个月内是否有牙齿或牙龈问题，如果有，他们是否看过牙医。
在询问的50种健康状况中，牙齿或牙龈问题是参与者的主要抱怨（30%）。与其他参与者相比，更有可能报告口腔健康问题的人群包括家庭年收入低于9000美元的人（36%）、失业者（34%）以及没有医疗保险的人（34%）。因口腔健康问题看过牙医的有私人保险者（87%）几乎是未参保者（48%）的两倍。
迫切需要为哈莱姆的成年人提供口腔健康服务。将口腔健康纳入综合初级保健是一种有前景的机制。
