Mohammadbeigi Abolfazl, Arsangjang Shahram, Mohammadsalehi Narges, Anbari Zohreh, Ghaderi Ebrahim
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Faculty of Health, Research Center for Health Policy and Promotion, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran.
Department of CDC, Vice Chancellor of Health, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran.
J Family Med Prim Care. 2015 Jan-Mar;4(1):35-8. doi: 10.4103/2249-4863.152248.
Oral health affects peoples' lives physically and psychologically and is related to general health, quality of life, and feelings of social well-being. As the educational level is an important predictor of healthy life and can affect healthcare utilization, this study aims to estimate the inequity related to the educational level of parents on the access and utilization of oral health care (OHC) in Qom, Iran.
An analytical, cross-sectional study.
Overall 281 children, six to seven years of age, were given a self-administrated questionnaire to fill. The sex, access to utilization of OHC, and educational level of the children's parents were questioned. The concentration (C) index was used as the inequity measure and statistical inference was conducted by chi square and the confidence interval of C.
The mean age of the children was 6.48 ± 0.5 years. There was not statistically significant difference in the access and utilization rate of OHC between the two sexes (P > 0.05). There was an increasing trend in the utilization rate of OHC, because of the increased educational level of the parents. The C for access and utilization rate, for different levels of fathers' education was 0.055(-0.095 to 0.205) and 0.097(-0.068 to 0.261) and for mothers' educational level was 0.086(-0.068 to 0.241) and 0.091(-0.81 to 0.263), respectively.
Our results did not show evidence of sex disparity in the access and utilization of OHC in Iranian children. Also the inequity related to the educational level in access and utilization of OHC was low and not considerable.
口腔健康会在生理和心理上影响人们的生活，并且与总体健康、生活质量及社会幸福感相关。由于教育水平是健康生活的重要预测指标且会影响医疗保健的利用情况，本研究旨在评估伊朗库姆地区父母的教育水平在口腔卫生保健（OHC）的可及性和利用方面的不平等情况。
一项分析性横断面研究。
共281名6至7岁的儿童填写了一份自填式问卷。问卷询问了儿童的性别、OHC的可及性与利用情况以及其父母的教育水平。集中度（C）指数用作不平等衡量指标，并通过卡方检验和C的置信区间进行统计推断。
儿童的平均年龄为6.48±0.5岁。两性之间OHC的可及性和利用率无统计学显著差异（P>0.05）。由于父母教育水平的提高，OHC的利用率呈上升趋势。父亲不同教育水平下OHC可及性和利用率的C指数分别为0.055（-0.095至0.205）和0.097（-0.068至0.261），母亲教育水平下的C指数分别为0.086（-0.068至0.241）和0.091（-0.81至0.263）。
我们的结果未显示伊朗儿童在OHC的可及性和利用方面存在性别差异的证据。此外，OHC可及性和利用方面与教育水平相关的不平等程度较低且不显著。
