ArticleBMC oral health2021
Demographic and socioeconomic inequalities in oral healthcare utilisation in Malaysia: evidence from a national survey.
Article in BMC oral health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- Public Oral Healthcare Utilisation and Its Associated Factors in Malaysian Adults: A Time-Series Analysis (1992-2019).International dental journal · 2026Article
- Economic Impact of Periodontitis: Global, Regional and National Estimates of Periodontal Expenditure, With Forecasts to 2050.Journal of periodontal research · 2026Article
- Special Care Dentistry for People in Asia-Pacific Region.International dental journal · 2025Review
- Exploring the barriers and enablers of oral health care utilisation and safe oral sex practices among transgender women in Malaysia: a qualitative study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Associated factors of dental caries among middle-aged adults in Guizhou Province, China (2019-2020).BMC oral health · 2025Article
- Article
- Effect of the oral examinations in the national health screening program on preventive oral health care and treatments: a 19-year follow-up study.BMC oral health · 2024Article
- The impact of parental dental anxiety and oral health literacy on child oral health and dental-visit patterns: a cross-sectional study.BMC oral health · 2024Article
- Cross-cultural validation of Malay version of perceived professionalism among dental patients.BDJ open · 2024Article
- Article
- A scoping review on the links between sustainable development goal 14 and early childhood caries.BMC oral health · 2023Article
- Oral healthcare seeking behavior of Malaysian adults in urban and rural areas: findings from the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2019.BMC oral health · 2023Article
- Dental Health Utilization in Palau: Feasibility of an Oral Cancer Screening Program.Annals of global health · 2023Article
- Validation of the Malay Oral Impacts on Daily Performances and Evaluation of Oral Health-Related Quality of Life in a Multi-Ethnic Urban Malaysian Population: A Cross-Sectional Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Count data models for outpatient health services utilisation.BMC medical research methodology · 2022Article
- Screening for type 2 diabetes and periodontitis patients (CODAPT-My©): a multidisciplinary care approach.BMC health services research · 2022Article
- Socioeconomic inequalities in the utilization of dental services among adults in Saudi Arabia.BMC oral health · 2022Article
- Community Implementers as Dual Agents in an Oral Health Programme: A Qualitative Exploration.Inquiry : a journal of medical care organization, provision and financingArticle
- Using the Extended Theory of Planned Behavior to Assess Adults' Intentions of Preventive Dental Care.Journal of International Society of Preventive & Community DentistryArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThroughout the years, oral healthcare utilisation in Malaysia has been low despite various efforts by the Ministry of Health Malaysia for improvement. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of oral healthcare utilisation and identify factors associated with oral healthcare utilisation among adults in Malaysia.
methodsSecondary data analysis of adults aged 18 years and over from the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2019 was conducted in this study. Characteristics of respondents and those who utilised oral healthcare were described using complex sample descriptive statistics. Logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the association between the dependent and independent variables. Dependent variable was oral healthcare utilisation in the last 12 months. Independent variables were demographic and socioeconomic factors (predisposing, enabling and need characteristics) based on Andersen's Behavioural Model.
resultsA total of 11,308 respondents, estimated to represent 21.7 million adults aged 18 years and over in Malaysia were included in the analysis. Prevalence of oral healthcare utilisation in the last 12 months was 13.2%. Demographic factors of sex, age, marital status, and socioeconomic factors of education level and occupation as well as health belief such as medical check-up were significantly related to oral healthcare utilisation. Enabling factor of household income quintile had significant association with oral healthcare utilisation. Inequalities were observed; females (OR = 1.57, 95% CI = 1.25, 1.96), younger adults (OR = 1.64, 95% CI = 1.15, 2.33), those who were married (OR = 1.65, 95% CI = 1.23, 2.22), those with higher education (OR = 2.21, 95% CI = 1.23, 3.99), those who had medical check-up in the last 12 months (OR = 1.86, 95% CI = 1.53, 2.25) and those with higher income (OR = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.04, 1.96) were more likely to utilise oral healthcare.
conclusionUnderstanding factors associated with utilisation of oral healthcare could help in formulating effective interventions to improve oral healthcare utilisation. Demographic and socioeconomic factors are strong determinants of oral healthcare utilisation in Malaysia. Appropriate interventions to strengthen the existing programmes aimed to promote regular and timely oral health check-ups are needed to improve oral healthcare utilisation.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.