Territorial Disparities in Dental Care for Disabled Persons and Oral Health-Related Indicators: A Population-Level Approach in Brazil’s Public Healthcare System from 2014 to 2023

Ricardo Barbosa Lima (), Aluísio Eustáquio de Freitas Miranda-Filho, Ana Paula Gomes e Moura, Paulo Nelson-Filho, Léa Assed Bezerra da Silva and Raquel Assed Bezerra da Silva
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Ricardo Barbosa Lima: Graduate Program in Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto 14040-904, SP, Brazil
Aluísio Eustáquio de Freitas Miranda-Filho: Graduate Program in Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto 14040-904, SP, Brazil
Ana Paula Gomes e Moura: Graduate Program in Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto 14040-904, SP, Brazil
Paulo Nelson-Filho: Department of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto 14040-904, SP, Brazil
Léa Assed Bezerra da Silva: Department of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto 14040-904, SP, Brazil
Raquel Assed Bezerra da Silva: Department of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto 14040-904, SP, Brazil

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 21, issue 5, 1-14

Abstract: This study evaluated territorial disparities in dental care for disabled persons in Brazil’s public healthcare system from 2014 to 2023. The person-year incidence of outpatient dental procedures carried out by special care dentistry specialists and hospitalizations for dental procedures for disabled persons were compared across different regions and against the national estimate. In addition, productivity was correlated with oral health-related indicators. The significance level was set at 5%. The northern region exhibited the highest outpatient productivity, while the southern region showed lower productivity compared to the national estimate (both p -value < 0.05). This pattern was reversed in inpatient productivity (both p -value < 0.05), with the northeastern and central–western regions also below average (both p -value < 0.05). There were no significant correlations between the indicators and inpatient productivity, but outpatient productivity was positively correlated with the proportions of inhabitants who self-rated their general and oral health as “poor” or “very poor”, who have never visited a dentist, and who visited a dentist for tooth extraction (all p -values < 0.05). Territorial disparities in dental care for disabled persons were observed within Brazil’s public healthcare system, and they were correlated with unfavorable oral health-related indicators at the population level.

Keywords: healthcare disparities; dental care; disabled persons; health services accessibility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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