Ishimaru Miho, Kuroda Naoaki, Ono Sachiko, Sato Misuzu, Komiyama Jun, Aida Jun, Tamiya Nanako
Center for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Education, Institute of Science Tokyo, 1-5-45 Yushima, Bunkyo-Ku, Tokyo, 113-8549, Japan.
Health Services Research and Development Center, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
BMC Health Serv Res. 2024 Dec 26;24(1):1651. doi: 10.1186/s12913-024-12141-2.
Community- and evidence-based approaches are essential for improving dental public health. We evaluated the effectiveness of sending vouchers in a community-based oral screening program to encourage dental visits and improve oral health among adults.
We analyzed the data from April 2014 to March 2019 obtained from administrative claims and screening program databases in Tsukuba City, Japan. This longitudinal observational study utilized the difference-in-difference approach to evaluate the impact of the screening program on dental service use. The exposure group, which comprised residents aged 30, 40, 50, 60, and 70 years who were eligible for the screening program and had received dental check-up vouchers, was compared with an age-matched control group, which comprised individuals aged ± 2 years. Dental service use was evaluated in terms of (1) whether monthly dental visits occurred, (2) the number of dental visits per person, and (3) the total monthly dental expenditure.
Data were obtained from 43,438 residents (14,392 and 29,046 in the exposure and control groups, respectively). The program positively affected the likelihood of attending a dental visit (adjusted risk ratio, 1.04; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.00-1.07) and the overall monthly expenditure on dental services (adjusted mean ratio, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.03-1.03).
The oral screening program slightly increased dental service use among adults in Japan. The findings enable evidence-based policy-making on the improvement of the population-level oral health status.
基于社区和证据的方法对于改善口腔公共卫生至关重要。我们评估了在基于社区的口腔筛查项目中发放代金券以鼓励成年人进行牙科就诊并改善其口腔健康的有效性。
我们分析了2014年4月至2019年3月从日本筑波市行政索赔和筛查项目数据库中获取的数据。这项纵向观察性研究采用了差分法来评估筛查项目对牙科服务使用的影响。将符合筛查项目条件并已收到牙科检查代金券的30、40、50、60和70岁居民组成的暴露组与年龄相差±2岁的年龄匹配对照组进行比较。从以下几个方面评估牙科服务的使用情况：（1）是否每月进行牙科就诊；（2）每人的牙科就诊次数；（3）每月牙科总支出。
从43438名居民中获取了数据（暴露组和对照组分别为14392名和29046名）。该项目对进行牙科就诊的可能性（调整风险比，1.04；95%置信区间[CI]，1.00 - 1.07）和每月牙科服务的总体支出（调整平均比，1.03；95% CI，1.03 - 1.03）产生了积极影响。
口腔筛查项目在日本成年人中略微增加了牙科服务的使用。这些发现有助于在改善人群口腔健康状况方面进行基于证据的政策制定。
