Regional caries data availability in Saudi Arabia: Impact of socioeconomic factors and research potential.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

Monitoring oral diseases is needed to allocate resources, plan health services and train dental workforce. Caries is one of the oral diseases most commonly included in oral health surveillance systems. The present study assessed (1) caries data availability in the administrative regions of Saudi Arabia and (2) factors associated with this availability.

Methods

We collected caries data in the period 2008-2018 in Saudi Arabia (outcome variable). The explanatory variables included region-level factors: (a) socio-economic indicators (percentage of individuals with university education, percentage of category A governorates, percentage of owned houses, households with computers, internet and smart phones) and, (b) oral health research potential indicators (num

SUBMITTER: Al-Ansari A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6445450 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature