TY - JOUR
T1 - Multilevel analysis of the association of dental-hygienist-related factors on regular dental check-up behavior
AU - Inoue, Yuko
AU - Shimazaki, Yoshihiro
AU - Oshiro, Akiko
AU - Zaitsu, Takashi
AU - Furuta, Michiko
AU - Ando, Yuichi
AU - Miyazaki, Hideo
AU - Kambara, Masaki
AU - Fukai, Kakuhiro
AU - Aida, Jun
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: This study was supported by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare, Health and Labor Sciences research grants, Japan (Comprehensive Research on Life-Style Related Disease including Cardiovascular Diseases and Diabetes Mellitus (19FA2001)).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2021/3/2
Y1 - 2021/3/2
N2 - Few studies have examined the factors related to dental clinics during dental check-ups. We examined the association between dental-hygienist-related factors and patients’ regular dental check-ups. This nationwide cross-sectional study was based on a survey conducted in Japan in 2014. The analyzed population included 12,139 patients from 1181 dental clinics. We used three-level Poisson regression analysis, considering patient-clinic-prefecture, to examine the association of dental-hygienist-related factors with dental check-up behavior. Patients attending treatment and regular check-ups constituted 63.0% and 37.0%, respectively. The adjusted prevalence ratios (PRs) for patients undergoing regular dental check-ups at dental clinics with dedicated dental hygienists’ units, spending ≥20 min in patient education (compared to 0 min), and with three or more dental hygienists (compared to 0 hygienists) available were 1.17 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.06–1.30), 1.25 (95%CI: 1.07–1.46), and 2.05 (95%CI: 1.64–2.56), respectively. The median PR indicates that when a patient randomly moves to another dental clinic with more regular dental check-ups, this prevalence increased 1.69 times. These results suggest that dental check-up behavior is determined not only by individual factors but also dental-clinic-level factors. Improving the dental-hygienist-related factors is necessary to encourage people to visit dentists for regular check-ups.
AB - Few studies have examined the factors related to dental clinics during dental check-ups. We examined the association between dental-hygienist-related factors and patients’ regular dental check-ups. This nationwide cross-sectional study was based on a survey conducted in Japan in 2014. The analyzed population included 12,139 patients from 1181 dental clinics. We used three-level Poisson regression analysis, considering patient-clinic-prefecture, to examine the association of dental-hygienist-related factors with dental check-up behavior. Patients attending treatment and regular check-ups constituted 63.0% and 37.0%, respectively. The adjusted prevalence ratios (PRs) for patients undergoing regular dental check-ups at dental clinics with dedicated dental hygienists’ units, spending ≥20 min in patient education (compared to 0 min), and with three or more dental hygienists (compared to 0 hygienists) available were 1.17 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.06–1.30), 1.25 (95%CI: 1.07–1.46), and 2.05 (95%CI: 1.64–2.56), respectively. The median PR indicates that when a patient randomly moves to another dental clinic with more regular dental check-ups, this prevalence increased 1.69 times. These results suggest that dental check-up behavior is determined not only by individual factors but also dental-clinic-level factors. Improving the dental-hygienist-related factors is necessary to encourage people to visit dentists for regular check-ups.
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U2 - 10.3390/ijerph18062816
DO - 10.3390/ijerph18062816
M3 - Article
C2 - 33802068
AN - SCOPUS:85102407297
SN - 1661-7827
VL - 18
SP - 1
EP - 10
JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
IS - 6
M1 - 2816
ER -
