Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40890760›Full record

ArticleBMC oral health2025

Factors associated with socioeconomic inequalities in the use of dental services among Brazilian older adults: an Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition analysis.

Fabíola Bof de Andrade, José Leopoldo Ferreira Antunes, Alexandra Crispim Boing, Flávia Cristina Drumond Andrade, Doralice Severo da Cruz Teixeira, Paola Carvajal Pavez, Matías Mrejen, Glenda Nunes Gomes, Carol C Guarnizo-Herreño

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC oral health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Fabíola Bof de AndradeFundação Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz, Instituto René Rachou, Av. Augusto de Lima, 1715, Barro Preto, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, 30190-002, Brazil. fabiola.bof@fiocruz.br.
José Leopoldo Ferreira AntunesSchool of Public Health, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Alexandra Crispim BoingFederal University of Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, Brazil.
Flávia Cristina Drumond AndradeUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, USA.
Doralice Severo da Cruz TeixeiraMinistry of Health, Brasilia, Brazil.
Paola Carvajal PavezCenter for Epidemiology and Surveillance of Oral Diseases (CESOD), Santiago, Chile.
Matías MrejenFundação Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz, Instituto René Rachou, Av. Augusto de Lima, 1715, Barro Preto, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, 30190-002, Brazil.
Glenda Nunes GomesFundação Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz, Instituto René Rachou, Av. Augusto de Lima, 1715, Barro Preto, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, 30190-002, Brazil.
Carol C Guarnizo-HerreñoFacultad de Odontología, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia.

Funding

National Council for Scientific and Technological Development - CNPq and Department of Science and Technology of Secretariat of Science, Technology, Innovation and Health Complex of Ministry of Health of Brazil - MoH 444534/2023-7
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe use of dental services is low among older adults, particularly among vulnerable or disadvantaged groups from various countries. Nonetheless, there is a gap in the literature regarding the factors that contribute to inequalities in the use of dental services. This study aimed to evaluate socioeconomic inequalities in recent and preventive use of dental services among older adults in Brazil and evaluate the factors contributing to these inequalities.

methodsThis cross-sectional study used data from the 2019 Brazilian National Health Survey. The dependent variables were the use of recent and preventive dental services (among those who reported using dental services within one year prior to the interview). Socioeconomic status was measured by education level [no formal education vs. some education] and household per capita income [low (≤ 1 minimum wage [MW]) vs. higher (≥ 1 MW)]. Explanatory variables included socioeconomic factors [education, household per capita income]; demographic characteristics [sex; age; living alone; rural residence]; general health status [limitations in basic activities of daily living (BADL); multimorbidity]; and oral health [use of prostheses; self-rated oral health; number of teeth; difficulty eating due to teeth or prostheses; dental insurance]. The Oaxaca-Blinder two-fold decomposition for binary outcomes was used to assess the factors contributing to educational and income-related inequalities in the use and preventive use of dental services.

resultsParticipants with no formal education and those in the lowest income group had lower recent and preventive use of dental services. The number of teeth was the most significant contributing factor for the observed inequality, accounting for 30.6-51.8% of its increase across models. Difficulty eating made the second largest contribution to the explained inequality gap for preventive use and rural residence contributed to widening the gap for both outcomes.

conclusionSocioeconomic inequalities in recent and preventive use of dental services among older adults are mainly explained by the number of remaining teeth, but other demographic, oral health, and health service factors play a role.

Indexed as

Healthcare DisparitiesAgedAged, 80 and overBrazilCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedOral HealthSocial ClassSocioeconomic FactorsDental careHealthcare disparitiesHealth servicesOral healthSocioeconomic factors

Identifiers

PMID40890760
PMCPMC12400544

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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.