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Disparities in Oral Health among School-Aged Children in Kansas
Dong, Frank Ablah, Elizabeth Hines, Robert Lazar, Ann Johnston, Judy
Dong, Frank
Ablah, Elizabeth
Hines, Robert
Lazar, Ann
Johnston, Judy
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Abstract
Background: The effects of age, rural-urban geographic location, and percentage of Free and Reduced Price Meal Program (FRPMP) participation on children’s oral health outcome measures (untreated decay, treated decay, and sealants) have not been fully explored in Kansas. Methods: The current study utilized a surveillance sample of 140,217 children (grades K through 12) attending 200 schools in Kansas, which requested screening assistance from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) from 2012 to 2013. Multilevel logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify significant factors associated with oral health outcome measures. Results: Older children were associated with decreased odds of having untreated decay, and increased odds of having treated decay and sealants. Children attending very rural schools had increased odds of untreated and treated decay and decreased odds of presence of sealants. For every 5% increase in the school-level %FRPMP, the odds of having untreated and treated decay increased by 5% and 3%, respectively. However, %FRPMP was not statistically associated with the presence of sealants. Conclusions: Children attending schools in very rural and rural areas appear to have worse oral health outcomes, as measured by higher proportions of untreated and treated decay, and a smaller proportion of presence of sealants.
Description
A grant from the One-University Open Access Fund at the University of Kansas was used to defray the author's publication fees in this Open Access journal. The Open Access Fund, administered by librarians from the KU, KU Law, and KUMC libraries, is made possible by contributions from the offices of KU Provost, KU Vice Chancellor for Research & Graduate Studies, and KUMC Vice Chancellor for Research. For more information about the Open Access Fund, please see http://library.kumc.edu/authors-fund.xml.
Date
2015-06
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Scientific Research Publishing
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Keywords
Untreated Decay, Treated Decay, Sealants, School Children, Rural, Age
Citation
Dong, F., Ablah, E., Hines, R., Lazar, A. and Johnston, J. (2015) Disparities in Oral Health among
School-Aged Children in Kansas. Open Journal of Preventive Medicine, 5, 291-298. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ojpm.2015.56032