Studies from National University Yield New Data on Epidemiology and Community Health (Health insurance and education: major contributors to oral health inequalities in Colombia)

2019 MAY 30 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Fresh data on Health and Disease - Epidemiology and Community Health are presented in a new report. According to news reporting originating in Bogota, Colombia, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Health inequalities, including inequalities in oral health, are problems of social injustice worldwide. Evidence on this issue from low-income and middle-income countries is still needed.”

Financial support for this research came from Newton Fund-British Council research travel grants.

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from National University, “We aimed to examine the relationship between oral health and different dimensions of socioeconomic position (SEP) in Colombia, a very unequal society emerging from a long-lasting internal armed conflict. Using data from the last Colombian Oral Health Survey (2014), we analysed inequalities in severe untreated caries (3 teeth), edentulousness (total tooth loss) and number of missing teeth. Inequalities by education, income, area-level SEP and health insurance scheme were estimated by the relative index of inequality and slope index of inequality (RII and SII, respectively). A general pattern of social gradients was observed and significant inequalities for all outcomes and SEP indicators were identified with RII and SII. Relative inequalities were larger for decay by health insurance scheme, with worse decay levels among the uninsured (RII: 2.57; 95% CI 2.11 to 3.13), and in edentulousness (RII: 3.23; 95% CI 1.88 to 5.55) and number of missing teeth (RII: 2.08; 95% CI 1.86 to 2.33) by education, with worse levels of these outcomes among the lower educated groups. Absolute inequalities followed the same pattern. Inequalities were larger in urban areas. Health insurance and education appear to be the main contributors to oral health inequalities in Colombia, posing challenges for designing public health strategies and social policies.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Tackling health inequalities is crucial for a fairer society in a Colombian post-conflict era and our findings highlight the importance of investing in education policies and universal health care coverage.”

For more information on this research see: Health insurance and education: major contributors to oral health inequalities in Colombia. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 2019;():jech-2018-212049. (BMJ Publishing Group - http://group.bmj.com/; Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health - http://jech.bmj.com/)

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting C.C. Guarnizo-Herreno, Facultad de Odontologia, National University, Bogota, Colombia, . Additional authors for this research include R.G. Watt, N. Garzon-Orjuela, E. Suarez-Zuniga and G. Tsakos.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2018-212049. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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