Shelke, G.S.; Marwaha, R.S.; Shah, P.; Challa, S. Role of Patient’s Ethnicity in Seeking Preventive Dental Services at the Community Health Centers of South-Central Texas: A Cross-Sectional Study. Dent. J.2023, 11, 32.
Shelke, G.S.; Marwaha, R.S.; Shah, P.; Challa, S. Role of Patient’s Ethnicity in Seeking Preventive Dental Services at the Community Health Centers of South-Central Texas: A Cross-Sectional Study. Dent. J. 2023, 11, 32.
Shelke, G.S.; Marwaha, R.S.; Shah, P.; Challa, S. Role of Patient’s Ethnicity in Seeking Preventive Dental Services at the Community Health Centers of South-Central Texas: A Cross-Sectional Study. Dent. J.2023, 11, 32.
Shelke, G.S.; Marwaha, R.S.; Shah, P.; Challa, S. Role of Patient’s Ethnicity in Seeking Preventive Dental Services at the Community Health Centers of South-Central Texas: A Cross-Sectional Study. Dent. J. 2023, 11, 32.
Abstract
Abstract: Background: To determine the impact of a patient's ethnicity on the seeking preventive dental services at the Community Health Centers (CHCs) in South-Central Texas. Methods: Pri-mary electronic health records (HER) data were collected regarding each patient's medical and dental history, and comprehensive treatment planning. The researchers retrieved EHR from Jan-uary 2016 to 2022. Bivariate analysis was completed to test outcome with predicator and covariates using appropriate statistical tests. A multiple linear regression model was used to understand the association between the predictor and outcome variable while controlling for confounders. Results: The study findings revealed significantly higher dental visits (2.26 ± 2.88) for Hispanic patients. The results from the multiple regression model indicated that non-Hispanic patients had a 8% fewer chance of visiting the CHCs for preventive dental services compared to the Hispanic population (p-value<0.001) when all other variables are held constant. However, the study results were not significant as the effect size was small to conclude the effect of ethnicity on the patients visiting the dental clinic at the CHCs for preventive services. Conclusion: The study concluded that there is no difference in the preventive dental services completed by Hispanics and Non-Hispanics when all other variables are controlled.
Keywords
Rural dental care; Preventive visits; Rural Vs Urban; community health centers; Hispanic Vs Non-Hispanics
Subject
Medicine and Pharmacology, Dentistry and Oral Surgery
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
