Lan Nguyen, Luke B Connelly, Stephen Birch, Ha Trong Nguyen
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objectives: In Australia, although there have been some improvements, child oral health continues to be a major public health issue. The Australian Government introduced the means-tested Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS) in 2014 to support access to dental services for children and adolescents aged 0-17 years from low-income families. There is a lack of evidence documenting whether the CDBS improved the dental attendance rate. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of the CDBS on dental visits among eligible children and adolescents in Australia.
Methods: The study analysed the data set from the birth cohort (B cohort) in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). This is a nationally representative cohort survey collected biennially since 2004. The information on dental visits in the last 12 months was reported by the parents. A difference-in-differences analysis was used to examine 22,985 observations in the period 2008-2018. A propensity score matching (PSM) method was employed as a robustness check for the main findings.
Results: The proportion of children and adolescents eligible for CDBS in the six biennial surveys from 2008 to 2018 was 62.0%, 54.4%, 47%, 41.2%, 35.5%, and 28.9%, while the proportion of eligible individuals visiting dentists was 38.0%, 45.6%, 53.0%, 58.8%, 64.5%, and 71.1%, respectively. The analyses showed that the CDBS policy had a statistically significant and positive impact on dental visits among eligible children and adolescents. There was a 6.1-6.4 percentage point increase (p-value < 0.001) in dental visits across different specifications after the introduction of the CDBS policy.
Conclusion: The removal of financial barriers was beneficial to improve dental visits; however, the target group still faces the other remaining barriers, especially those related to inequalities in the social determinants of health, impeding the uptake of free dental services.
期刊介绍：
The aim of Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology is to serve as a forum for scientifically based information in community dentistry, with the intention of continually expanding the knowledge base in the field. The scope is therefore broad, ranging from original studies in epidemiology, behavioral sciences related to dentistry, and health services research through to methodological reports in program planning, implementation and evaluation. Reports dealing with people of all age groups are welcome.
The journal encourages manuscripts which present methodologically detailed scientific research findings from original data collection or analysis of existing databases. Preference is given to new findings. Confirmations of previous findings can be of value, but the journal seeks to avoid needless repetition. It also encourages thoughtful, provocative commentaries on subjects ranging from research methods to public policies. Purely descriptive reports are not encouraged, nor are behavioral science reports with only marginal application to dentistry.
The journal is published bimonthly.
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