Access to Oral Health Actions According to Social and Individual Determinants

ABSTRACT

Abstract Objective: To investigate the socioeconomic, demographic and health needs that influence the access to oral health actions. Material and Methods: The sample consisted of 609 individuals who lived in areas covered by the Family Health Strategy in a city of the Northeast of Brazil. All individuals living in areas covered by the FHS with age equal to or higher than six years were included. Data analysis included descriptive, bivariate and multivariate statistics using decision-tree based Chi-squared automatic interaction detection (CHAID). Results: Most participants were female, aged 25-34 years, ranging in age from 6 to 87 years. It was evidenced that, among the studied variables, the most relevant for understanding the access to oral health actions were age (p<0.001), educational level (p-value in Node 1 = 0.009; p-value in Node 7 = 0.005) and self-perception of oral health (p=0.001). Conclusion: The results suggest that access to oral health actions is influenced by several social and individual factors, and it is marked by inequalities that favor individuals with higher educational level, better self-perception of oral health and lower age groups.