Income-related inequalities in denture-wearing by Europeans aged 50 and above.

BACKGROUND

Despite its importance for the planning of future treatment needs and an optimised allocation of health care resources, only little is known about socio-economic inequalities in denture-wearing by late middle-aged and elderly generations.

OBJECTIVES

To describe income-related inequalities in denture-wearing by elderly populations residing in different European countries.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE Wave 2) were used to assess income-related inequalities in denture-wearing by means of Concentration Indices (CI) for populations aged 50+ from 14 different European countries.

RESULTS

We could identify a significant disproportionate concentration of denture-wearing amongst the poor elderly populations in Denmark (CI = -0.3534, corresponding to the highest level of inequality), Sweden (CI = -0.3479), Switzerland (CI = -0.2013), Greece (CI = -0.1953), the Netherlands (CI = -0.1413), France (CI = -0.1339), Austria (CI = -0.0974), Czech Republic (CI = -0.0959), Belgium (CI = -0.0947), Germany (CI = -0.0762), Ireland (CI = -0.0575) and Spain (CI = -0.0482, corresponding to the lowest level of pro-poor inequality). Poland became evident as the only country in which individuals from the upper end of the income scale wear more dentures than their peers from the lower end of the income scale (CI = 0.0379). No significant income-related inequalities were observable in Italy.

CONCLUSIONS

There is considerable income-related inequality in denture-wearing by several elderly populations in Europe. Future resource planning for prosthetic care should, thus, specifically distinguish between the treatment needs of different socio-economic groups within elderly populations.