The effect of community-level unemployment on preventive oral health care utilization.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To test the hypothesis that high community-level unemployment is associated with reduced use of preventive dental care services by a dentally insured population.

Data

The study uses monthly data on population dental visits and unemployment in the Seattle and Spokane areas from 1995 to 2004. Utilization data come from Washington Dental Services. Unemployment data were obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Washington's Employment Security Department.

Study design

The study uses a Box-Jenkins Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) method to measure the association between the variables over time. The approach controls for the effects of autocorrelation, seasonality, and confounding variables.

Findings

In the Seattle area, an unexpect

SUBMITTER: Quinn BC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2669636 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature