George Roslind, Tennant Marc, Kruger Estie
Center for Rural and remote Oral Health, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Rural Remote Health. 2012 Oct;12(4):2240. Epub 2012 Nov 20.
The aim of the study was to project hospitalisation rates for the surgical removal of impacted teeth across Australia, based on Western Australian statistics.
Population data were obtained from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and were divided across Australia by statistical local area and related to a validated socioeconomic index. Every episode of discharge from all hospitals in Western Australia for the financial years 1999/2000 to 2008/2009 indicating an impacted/embedded tooth removal as the principle oral condition, as classified by the International Classification of Disease (ICD-10AM), was included in the study. Hospitalisation data were obtained from the Western Australian Hospital Morbidity Data System. Variables of age, place of residence and health insurance status were utilised for projecting the Western Australian rates across Australia.
The results of the study showed a definite rural-urban divide and the estimated age-adjusted rates were almost three times greater in the higher socioeconomic areas when compared to their poorer counterparts. The costs of the procedure were estimated to be approximately $60 million per annum across Australia.
The findings of this study can be used to inform health policy to guide proper allocation of resources and target services for the benefit of the community especially those residing in rural and remote areas in a vast country like Australia.
本研究旨在基于西澳大利亚州的统计数据，推算出澳大利亚各地因拔除阻生牙而住院的比率。
人口数据取自澳大利亚统计局，并按统计区域在澳大利亚各地进行划分，且与经过验证的社会经济指数相关联。本研究纳入了1999/2000财年至2008/2009财年西澳大利亚州所有医院的每一次出院记录，这些记录表明按照《国际疾病分类》（ICD - 10AM）分类，拔除阻生/埋伏牙是主要口腔疾病。住院数据来自西澳大利亚州医院发病率数据系统。年龄、居住地点和医疗保险状况等变量被用于推算澳大利亚各地的西澳大利亚州比率。
研究结果显示出明显的城乡差异，与社会经济状况较差地区相比，社会经济状况较高地区的年龄调整后比率估计几乎高出三倍。据估计，该手术在澳大利亚每年的费用约为6000万美元。
本研究结果可用于为卫生政策提供信息，以指导合理分配资源并确定服务目标，从而造福社区，特别是像澳大利亚这样幅员辽阔的国家中居住在农村和偏远地区的人群。
