Faculty of Public Health, Department of Community Health, Lira University, Lira, Uganda.
Faculty of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health and Disease Control, Lira University, Lira, Uganda.
BMC Oral Health. 2024 Oct 30;24(1):1322. doi: 10.1186/s12903-024-05082-z.
Utilization of oral health services is a global public health challenge. Low- and middle-income countries are disproportionately affected. Uganda is one of the low- and middle-income countries where only 4% of the population has access to oral health services. Northern Uganda is one of the regions in the country with limited information about oral health utilization.
To assess factors associated with utilization of oral health services among adults aged 18-70 years in Lira district, Northern Uganda.
This was a quantitative cross-sectional study conducted in Lira District. Multistage sampling was used to select 576 respondents. Data was collected using a researcher-administered structured questionnaire that was adopted, modified, and pretested. Data was analyzed at three levels, including univariate, bivariate, and multivariate at 0.05 significance level.
Of the 634 respondents, 576 responded, giving a 90.9% response rate. Results show that utilization of oral health services was 20.5% (118) among adults aged 18-70 years in 6 months. Predictors of utilization of oral services among this age group are: having not attended any formal education (AOR = 0.2, 95%CI 0.06-0.62), having poor attitudes towards oral health services (AOR = 0.55, 95%CI 0.34-0.89), having cultural influence on the utilization of the oral health services (AOR = 4.84, 95% CI 2.77-8.43), accessing the services from private not-for-profit facilities (AOR = 4.67, 95% CI 1.79-12.16), being un sure of the availability of the equipment used (AOR = 0.42, 95% CI 0.18-0.9), and availability of friendly services (AOR = 2.53, 95% CI 1.12-5.50).
Utilization of oral health services is low in Lira district, with only 2 in 10 of the adults aged 18-70years of age utilizing oral health services in 6 months. To improve utilization, targeted health education campaigns should address cultural barriers and attitudes, while ensuring that public health facilities are better equipped and provide more user-friendly services.
口腔卫生服务的利用是全球公共卫生面临的一个挑战。中低收入国家受到的影响尤为严重。乌干达是中低收入国家之一，只有 4%的人口能够获得口腔卫生服务。在该国北部地区，有关口腔卫生服务利用的信息有限。
评估在乌干达北部利拉地区 18-70 岁成年人中与口腔卫生服务利用相关的因素。
这是一项在利拉区进行的定量横断面研究。采用多阶段抽样方法选择了 576 名受访者。使用经过采用、修改和预测试的研究者管理的结构化问卷收集数据。数据在三个层次上进行分析，包括单变量、双变量和多变量分析，显著性水平为 0.05。
在 634 名受访者中，有 576 名做出了回应，回应率为 90.9%。结果表明，在 18-70 岁的成年人中，6 个月内有 20.5%（118 人）利用了口腔卫生服务。该年龄组利用口腔服务的预测因素包括：未接受任何正规教育（AOR=0.2，95%CI 0.06-0.62）、对口腔卫生服务的态度较差（AOR=0.55，95%CI 0.34-0.89）、文化对口腔卫生服务的利用有影响（AOR=4.84，95%CI 2.77-8.43）、从私立非营利机构获得服务（AOR=4.67，95%CI 1.79-12.16）、不确定所使用设备的可用性（AOR=0.42，95%CI 0.18-0.9）以及友善的服务（AOR=2.53，95%CI 1.12-5.50）。
在利拉区，口腔卫生服务的利用率很低，只有 20%的 18-70 岁成年人在 6 个月内利用了口腔卫生服务。为了提高利用率，应开展有针对性的健康教育运动，解决文化障碍和态度问题，同时确保公共卫生设施配备更好，并提供更便于用户使用的服务。
