Hamano Tsuyoshi, Takeda Miwako, Tominaga Kazumichi, Sundquist Kristina, Nabika Toru
Institute of General Education, Kyoto Sangyo University, Motoyama, Kamigamo, Kita-ku, Kyoto 603-8555, Japan.
Department of Functional Pathology, Shimane University School of Medicine, 89-1 Enya-cho, Izumo, Shimane 693-8501, Japan.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2017 Mar 21;14(3):327. doi: 10.3390/ijerph14030327.
Given that public transportation networks are less developed in rural than in urban areas, a lack of accessibility to dental care facilities could be a barrier to routine dental checkups. Thus, we hypothesized that the distance to the dental care facilities is a risk factor for tooth loss. The aim of this study was to test whether there is an association between the distance to dental care facilities, estimated by geographic information systems, and number of teeth, assessed by an oral examination, among elderly residents of a rural area in Japan. Data were collected in 2016 from a cross-sectional study conducted in Shimane prefecture, Japan. After excluding participants with missing data (n = 21), we analyzed data from 710 participants. Of them, 40.6% were male and the mean (standard deviation) age was 67.4 (7.4) years. Further, 68.0% (n = 483) had at least 20 teeth. We found that the distance to dental care facilities was significantly associated with the number of teeth (less than 20) (odds ratio = 1.07, 95% confidence interval = 1.01-1.12) after adjustment for potential confounders. This result suggested that individuals without easy access to dental care facilities may be important targets for dental care.
鉴于农村地区的公共交通网络不如城市地区发达，缺乏获得牙科护理设施的机会可能成为定期牙科检查的障碍。因此，我们假设到牙科护理设施的距离是牙齿脱落的一个风险因素。本研究的目的是检验在日本一个农村地区的老年居民中，通过地理信息系统估计的到牙科护理设施的距离与通过口腔检查评估的牙齿数量之间是否存在关联。数据于2016年从日本岛根县进行的一项横断面研究中收集。在排除数据缺失的参与者（n = 21）后，我们分析了710名参与者的数据。其中，40.6%为男性，平均（标准差）年龄为67.4（7.4）岁。此外，68.0%（n = 483）至少有20颗牙齿。我们发现，在对潜在混杂因素进行调整后，到牙科护理设施的距离与牙齿数量（少于20颗）显著相关（比值比 = 1.07，95%置信区间 = 1.01 - 1.12）。这一结果表明，难以获得牙科护理设施的个体可能是牙科护理的重要目标人群。
