Impact of chronic condition status and severity on the time to first dental visit for newly Medicaid-enrolled children in Iowa.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To assess the extent to which chronic condition (CC) status and severity affected how soon children had a dental visit after enrolling in Medicaid. Data Source. Enrollment and claims data (2003-2008) for newly Medicaid-enrolled children ages 3-14 in Iowa.

Study design

3M Clinical Risk Grouping methods were used to identify CC status (no/yes) and CC severity (less severe/more severe). Survival analysis was used to identify the factors associated with earlier first dental visits after initially enrolling in Medicaid.

Principal findings

Children with a CC were 17 percent more likely to have earlier first dental visits after enrolling in Medicaid (p < .0001). There was no significant difference by CC severity. Children who lived in a dental health professional s

SUBMITTER: Chi DL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3008760 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature