Department of Dental Public Health and Policy, School of Dentistry, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA.
Oral Health in Childhood and Adolescence Core, Institute for Inclusion, Inquiry, and Innovation, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA.
J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2022 Mar;31(3):401-407. doi: 10.1089/jwh.2021.0252. Epub 2021 Oct 19.
Oral health is an integral part of women's health, yet many women face barriers and go without necessary dental care. The objectives of this study were to (1) examine and compare pregnancy-related oral health knowledge and barriers to dental care access during pregnancy among women with private and public insurance and (2) estimate awareness of available Medicaid pregnancy dental benefit among Medicaid-enrolled women and explore associated factors. A cross-sectional survey was administered to a convenience sample of 21- to 45-year-old women ( = 187) visiting a large urban academic health center in Virginia. Data on pregnancy-related oral health knowledge, barriers to dental care access, Medicaid dental benefit awareness, health insurance, socio-demographics, health information source, and last dental visit were collected. Chi-square tests, -tests, and multivariable regression were used to examine associations at ≤ 0.05. More than half of the women reported private insurance (52.4%), 40.3% reported Medicaid, and 8.3% reported being uninsured. Medicaid-enrolled women reported a lower prevalence of a routine dental checkup in the past year (44% vs. 71%, = 0.002), lower knowledge scores (2.9 vs. 3.6, < 0.001), and more barriers to accessing dental care during pregnancy compared with privately insured women. One in every three Medicaid-enrolled women (34%) was unaware of the Medicaid pregnancy dental benefit. Benefit awareness was associated with the receipt of health information from a health care source ( = 0.030) and a high oral health knowledge score ( = 0.018). There was a significant gap in dental care use and knowledge between Medicaid-enrolled and private-insured women in our study sample. Targeted programs should be developed to educate women about the importance of oral health and share information about available Medicaid dental coverage to reduce barriers to dental care during pregnancy.
口腔健康是女性健康的一个组成部分，但许多女性面临障碍，无法获得必要的牙科护理。本研究的目的是：（1）检查和比较有私人保险和公共保险的孕妇在怀孕期间与口腔健康相关的知识和获得牙科护理的障碍；（2）估计参加医疗补助计划的妇女对可用的医疗补助计划孕期牙科福利的认识，并探讨相关因素。本研究采用横断面调查方法，对弗吉尼亚州一家大型城市学术医疗中心的 21 至 45 岁女性（187 人）进行了方便抽样。收集了与妊娠相关的口腔健康知识、获得牙科护理的障碍、医疗补助牙科福利意识、健康保险、社会人口统计学、健康信息来源和上次牙科就诊等数据。采用卡方检验、t 检验和多变量回归分析，检验 ≤ 0.05 的关联。超过一半的女性报告有私人保险（52.4%），40.3%报告有医疗补助，8.3%报告没有保险。与有私人保险的女性相比，参加医疗补助计划的女性在过去一年中进行常规牙科检查的比例较低（44%比 71%， = 0.002），口腔健康知识得分较低（2.9 比 3.6， < 0.001），在怀孕期间获得牙科护理的障碍也较多。每三名参加医疗补助计划的女性中就有一名（34%）不知道医疗补助计划的孕期牙科福利。福利意识与从医疗保健来源获得健康信息（ = 0.030）和高口腔健康知识得分（ = 0.018）相关。在我们的研究样本中，参加医疗补助计划的女性和有私人保险的女性在牙科护理的使用和知识方面存在显著差距。应制定有针对性的计划，教育妇女口腔健康的重要性，并分享有关可用医疗补助牙科保险的信息，以减少怀孕期间获得牙科护理的障碍。
