Oral Health Workforce Research Center, Center for Health Workforce Studies, School of Public Health, University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY), Rensselaer, NY, USA.
Public Health Rep. 2023 May-Jun;138(1_suppl):63S-71S. doi: 10.1177/00333549221133801.
The COVID-19 pandemic affected consumers' access to oral health care. This study evaluated factors associated with teledentistry use among US adults from June 2019 through June 2020.
We used data from a nationally representative survey of 3500 consumers. We estimated teledentistry use and adjusted associations with respondents' concerns about the impacts of the pandemic on health and welfare and with their sociodemographic characteristics using Poisson regression models. We also analyzed teledentistry use across 5 teledentistry modalities (email, telephone, text, video conferencing, and mobile application).
Overall, 29% of respondents used teledentistry, and 68% of teledentistry users reported doing so for the first time because of the COVID-19 pandemic. First-time teledentistry use was positively associated with a high level of pandemic concerns (relative risk [RR] = 5.02; 95% CI, 3.49-7.20), age 35-44 years (RR = 4.22; 95% CI, 2.89-6.17), and annual household income $100 000-$124 999 (RR = 2.10; 95% CI, 1.55-2.84) and negatively associated with rural residence (RR = 0.68; 95% CI, 0.50-0.94). Having a high level of pandemic concerns (RR = 3.42; 95% CI, 2.30-5.08), young age (age 25-34 years: RR = 5.05; 95% CI, 3.23-7.90), and higher level of education (some college: RR = 1.59; 95% CI, 1.22-2.07) were strongly associated with teledentistry use for all "other" users (ie, existing or first-time use because of reasons unrelated to the pandemic). Most first-time teledentistry users used email (74.2%) and mobile applications (73.9%), whereas "other" teledentistry users used telephone communication (41.3%).
Teledentistry use during the pandemic was higher in the general population than among those for whom teledentistry programs were originally designed (eg, low-income, rural populations). Favorable regulatory changes to teledentistry should be expanded to meet patient needs beyond the pandemic.
新冠疫情影响了消费者获得口腔保健的机会。本研究评估了 2019 年 6 月至 2020 年 6 月期间美国成年人使用远程牙科的相关因素。
我们使用了一项全国代表性调查的 3500 名消费者的数据。我们使用泊松回归模型，根据受访者对疫情对健康和福利影响的担忧程度，以及他们的社会人口统计学特征，估计了远程牙科的使用情况，并调整了关联。我们还分析了 5 种远程牙科模式（电子邮件、电话、短信、视频会议和移动应用程序）的远程牙科使用情况。
总体而言，29%的受访者使用了远程牙科，68%的远程牙科使用者表示，他们首次使用远程牙科是因为新冠疫情。首次使用远程牙科与对疫情的高度担忧呈正相关（相对风险[RR] = 5.02；95%置信区间，3.49-7.20），年龄在 35-44 岁（RR = 4.22；95%置信区间，2.89-6.17），家庭年收入在 100000-124999 美元（RR = 2.10；95%置信区间，1.55-2.84），与农村居住呈负相关（RR = 0.68；95%置信区间，0.50-0.94）。对疫情的高度担忧（RR = 3.42；95%置信区间，2.30-5.08）、年轻（年龄 25-34 岁：RR = 5.05；95%置信区间，3.23-7.90）和较高的教育程度（一些大学：RR = 1.59；95%置信区间，1.22-2.07）与所有“其他”用户（即因与疫情无关的原因而首次使用或现有用户）的远程牙科使用密切相关。大多数首次使用远程牙科的用户使用电子邮件（74.2%）和移动应用程序（73.9%），而“其他”远程牙科用户使用电话通讯（41.3%）。
在一般人群中，远程牙科的使用高于原本为其设计的人群（例如，低收入、农村人群）。应该扩大对远程牙科的有利监管改革，以满足疫情后的患者需求。
