School of Social Work, The Texas State University, San Marcos, TX 78666, USA.
Edward R. Roybal Institute on Aging, Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018 Oct 16;15(10):2261. doi: 10.3390/ijerph15102261.
Although dental care is an essential component of comprehensive health care, a substantial proportion of the U.S. population lacks access to it. Disparities in dental care are most pronounced in racial/ethnic minority communities. Given the rapid population growth of Asian Americans, as well as the growing attention of neighborhood-level effects on health care use, the present study examines how individual-level variables (i.e., age, gender, marital status, ethnicity, education, place of birth, length of stay in the U.S., dental insurance, and self-rated oral health) and neighborhood-level variables (i.e., poverty level, density of Asian population, dentist availability, and Asian-related resources and services) contribute to predicting the use of preventive dental care in a sample of Asian Americans in Austin, TX. This study adds to the growing literature on the effect of neighborhood-level factors on health care as sources of disparities. Those living in the Census area with higher level of available dentists were more likely to use preventive dental care services. Findings suggest the importance of the location (proximity or accessibility) to dental clinics. In a planning perspective for health care policy, identifying the neighborhood with limited healthcare services could be a priority to diminish the disparity of the access.
尽管口腔护理是全面医疗保健的重要组成部分，但相当一部分美国人无法获得口腔护理。口腔护理方面的差异在少数族裔社区最为明显。鉴于亚裔美国人的人口增长迅速，以及邻里层面的影响对医疗保健利用的关注度不断提高，本研究探讨了个体层面的变量（即年龄、性别、婚姻状况、种族、教育、出生地、留美时间、牙齿保险和自我评估的口腔健康）和邻里层面的变量（即贫困水平、亚洲人口密度、牙医可及性以及与亚洲相关的资源和服务）如何有助于预测在奥斯汀的亚裔美国人样本中预防性口腔护理的使用。这项研究增加了关于邻里因素对医疗保健差异来源影响的不断增长的文献。那些生活在牙医资源更丰富的人口普查区的人更有可能使用预防性口腔护理服务。研究结果表明，牙科诊所的位置（接近度或可及性）很重要。在医疗保健政策的规划视角中，确定医疗服务有限的邻里区域可能是减少获取差距的优先事项。
