Correlates of past year dental visits among black men: Findings from the 2011 black men's health study of Indiana

Objective: This study aims to describe correlates of past year dental health visits among Black Men of Indiana.

Methods: A 2011 health needs assessment survey was conducted by the Indiana Minority Health Coalition with a convenience sample of 1,444 Black men from 12 Indiana counties and from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were performed, adjusting for county clustering, using STATA. The relationship between past year dental visits and predisposing (age, marital status, education, employment status), enabling (income level, health insurance, usual place of sick care), and other health status-related (smoking status, self-rated health, poor mental health days, social support, and fruit and vegetable servings per day) variables were explored.

Results: Overall, 42% of the men surveyed had a past year dental visit. Preliminary full regression model results indicated that being married (Odds Ratio (OR) = 1.34, p<0.01), having higher household income (OR = 1.83, p<0.05), health insurance (OR = 1.75, p<0.001), a usual place of sick care (OR = 1.42, p<0.05), and higher consumption of fruit servings per day (OR = 1.81, p<0.05) were positively associated with a past year dental visit. Men who rarely or never had social support (OR = 0.54, p<0.01) were less likely than those with social support to visit a dentist. Conclusion: Black men were not frequent users of dental services. Intra-group socioeconomic disparities were found. Social support and diet are factors that could be addressed during health promotion programs to increase regular dental utilization among Black men.