Estimating the Within-Person Change in Dental Service Access Measures during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States.

ABSTRACT:

Background

American adults delay dental care more than any other healthcare service. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic may have stalled efforts to address dental service delays. Early evidence has suggested substantial declines in dental service visits in the early phase of the pandemic; however, our study is among the first to measure within-person changes from 2019 to 2020 and conduct subgroup analyses to examine if changing dental patterns were mediated by exposure to the pandemic, risk of adverse COVID-19 outcomes, or dental insurance.

Methods

We analyzed a National Health Interview Survey panel of individuals initially surveyed in 2019, with subsequent follow-up in 2020. The outcomes included dental service access measures and the interval of a most recent dental vis

SUBMITTER: Semprini J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10154088 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature