Relationship between health service access to dental conditions in urban and rural areas in Indonesia

Abstract

Objective: To determine relationship between access to dental health services with dental health conditions of adult communities in urban areas represented by Somba Opu and rural districts represented by Patalassang subdistrict in Gowa subdistrict. Material and Methods: This was pilot pathfinder survey, conducted in Gowa District in April 2018 with 420 subjects. Data were collected using a CoHRE questionnaire. Information regarding gender, age and location (rural and urban), transportation (public and private), toothache in past one year, dental treatment in past one year, dental treatment frequency (regular and irregular), smoking, alcohol consumption, routine activity, drugs intake, oral problems, driving car, distance to health facility (near and far) were collected. The number of teeth was dichotomized to less than 20 and 20 or more. Data were analyzed using Chi-square test and the level of significance was set at 5%. Results: In the urban area there was an association between routine activities with dental health conditions (p=0.002). There is no significant association between distance or access to health care facility with dental condition in adult society in urban area (p>0.05). In rural area there is a significant association between distance or access to health care facility with dental condition (p=0.046). Conclusion: There is an association between access to dental health services with dental health conditions of adult communities in urban areas represented by Somba Opu and rural disparities represented by Patalassang subdistrict in Gowa district.