Online Program

289713
Examining factors associated with the utilization of dental services and the awareness of increased oral cancer risks among newly, incarcerated adults in Georgia


Monday, November 4, 2013

Whitney Graves, MPH, Community Voices: Healthcare for the Underserved, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
Lee Caplan, MD, PhD, MPH, Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
Katherine Erwin, DDS, Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
Starla Hairston-Blanks, MBA, MPH, Satcher Health Leadership Institute; Community Voices: Healthcare for the Underserved, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
Although the state of Georgia accounts for the fifth largest prison population in the U.S., there is limited public information on the quality of oral health among its prisoners. To address this disparity, Community Voices: Healthcare for the Underserved of Morehouse School of Medicine and the Georgia Department of Corrections partnered to develop and conduct a 2012 Oral Health Access Survey among newly, incarcerated adult prisoners. This survey was administered over a four-week period in summer 2012 to examine the ability of the cohort to access oral health services. For the current study, a secondary data analysis was conducted to: (1) employ Andersen's Behavioral Model of Health Services Use to assess the influence of various factors on the utilization of dental services and (2) determine if inmates who reported synergistic smoking and drinking behavior, have been informed of their increased risk for oral cancer. Univariate, bivariate, and logistic regression analyses were conducted utilizing SAS 9.2 software. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were also calculated. By assessing Anderson's model, this research found two contextual factors that were significantly associated to the utilization of dental services among the sample population (p-values < 0.05). It was also found that the majority of the cohort who reported synergistic smoking and drinking behavior had not been informed of their increased risk for oral cancer by a dental/healthcare provider. These findings demonstrate disparities that support the need for public health action that can improve the dental care workforce, policies, and procedures within Georgia's correctional system.

Learning Areas:

Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Public health or related research
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health

Learning Objectives:
Assess the impact of predisposing, enabling, and need for care factors on dental services utilization among incarcerated adults. Evaluate if prisoners who have reported synergistic smoking and drinking behavior were informed of their increased risk for oral cancer by a dental or healthcare provider. Examine oral cancer education needs in dental health professional shortage area correctional facilities

Keyword(s): Oral Health, Inmates

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: As a Master of Public Health student interested in oral health and oral cancer prevention, I have researched this topical area across the past two years.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.