• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.208-220
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• 2024

Background: Although a direct association has been established between oral health management and maintaining military combat readiness and fulfilling defense duties, unmet dental-care needs have been consistently reported, and there has been little research on the role of mobile healthcare services in addressing this issue. This study explored the association between unmet dental-care needs and the intention to use mobile healthcare services among military personnel. Methods: This study was conducted on military personnel who visited a military hospital in Gyeonggi-do, Korea, from August 19 to August 31, 2024. A total of 150 self-administered questionnaires were distributed and 135 valid responses were analyzed. The analysis included general characteristics, dental care utilization, and intention to use mobile healthcare services. Statistical analyses, such as t-tests, ANOVA, and multiple regression, were employed to determine the factors influencing the intention to use mobile healthcare services. Results: This study found that military personnel with unmet dental-care needs had significantly higher intentions to use mobile healthcare services than those without such needs. The analysis revealed that the key factors influencing this intention were perceived health status and previous dental-care utilization. Specifically, participants who rated their overall health as better and those who had used dental care services in the past year showed a greater tendency to express interest in mobile healthcare services than those who did not. Furthermore, unmet dental-care needs were more prevalent among soldiers who reported limited access to dental facilities owing to time constraints or a lack of prioritization of oral health, which increased their inclination toward utilizing mobile healthcare solutions as an alternative. Conclusion: Mobile healthcare solutions can offer personalized and timely care as viable alternatives for improving oral health management in the military. Moreover, integrating mobile healthcare services into military health systems could significantly reduce unmet dental-care needs and enhance overall combat readiness by promoting better health outcomes.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.1-12
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• 2019

Purposes: The purpose of this study, was to identify similar factors between reasons for unscreening and unmet health care needs through prior research, and based on this, we wanted to figure out the relevance between the medical screening and unmet health care needs. Methodology: The analysis was conducted using data from 9,640 adults aged 19 or older who don't have a missing value from 16,277 participants in the 7th, 1st&2nd Year (2016&2017) of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). Unmet health care needs were investigated as a self-reported questionnaire of whether medical service was required but not received. And the analysis was performed through the Chi-Square Test and Multi-logistic Regression analysis. Findings: As a result of the analysis, unmet healthcare needs were higher who received only one type of screening comparative to who screened both. and were highest who screened neither. Practical Implications: Unmet health care needs are the center of a vicious cycle, such as morbidity and mortality, which is detrimental to the quality of life, and continues to increase. Therefore, it is necessary to find ways of realizing health care that guarantees the health rights of all citizens by policy guarantee and support for the subjects to recognize the importance of thorough education of screenings rather than only health screening or cancer screening.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.125-132
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• 2023

Objectives: This study used the 2018 Korea Health Panel Survey data to analyze factors affecting employment status and income relating to unmet dental and medical care needs. Additionally it investigated measures to reduce oral health inequality among various socioeconomic classes. Methods: Descriptive statistics for the subjects' unmet dental and medical care needs were calculated through chi-square test analysis, and multivariate logistic regression analysis was applied to identify factors affecting the unmet dental and medical care needs. The odds ratio and 95% confidence interval were calculated for each level. These data were analyzed using STATA 17.0 SE (64-bit) version, and the statistical significance level was set to p<0.05. Results: As a result of unmet dental and medical care needs according to general characteristics, the lower the education level (p<0.001), the higher the age (p<0.001) and the lower the household equalization income (p<0.024) and the smoker status (p<0.003) were, respectively. Factors that have a statistically significant impact on unmet dental and medical care needs were divorce, separation and bereavement (p<0.001) in individuals than in married persons, and being smokers than non-smokers (p<0.009). The frequency of unmet dental and medical care needs were found to be lower in the cases of a high school graduate than an elementary school graduate (p<0.018), and of higher household equalization income (p<0.001) than the lowest household equalization income, respectively. Conclusions: It was found that various factors such as age, education level, household equalization income, employment status, type of working hours type, and smoking status affect unmet dental and medical care needs.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.221-229
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to identify the convergence factors affecting the unmet health needs of the indigent elderly. The data the study is the Korean medical panel of 2011 and the parameters belonging to each factors were selected based on the Anderson model. We analyzed the general characteristics using frequency analysis and the correlations between variables using cross analysis. Finally, logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the factors affecting unmet health needs. The indigent elderly with no education and elementary school graduates were 1.5 times more likely to experience unmet health needs than the poverty elderly with high school graduates. The indigent elderly who does not work for income, who were employers and self-employeds were 1.5 times more likely to experience unmet health care need than unpaid family workers. The indigent elderly with disabilities in activites of daily living were 2.9 time more likely to experience unmet health care needs than the indigent elderly with no disability in activites of daily living. The results of this study confirm that the increase in the economic burden of medical care for the indigent elderly can lead to the unmet health needs.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.787-795
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• 2015

Objectives: The purpose of the study is to investigate the degree of disparity in unmet dental care needs in Korean adults. Methods: Using data from the 5th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 9,573 adults between 25-54 years old were selected. The reason for unmet dental care needs was analyzed by chi square test and logistic regression analysis. Results: Those having unmet oral health care needs accounted for 41.3%. The majority of the reason (1,036 persons) was "busy with school or work" and the second reason was financial burden (1,028 persons). Those who were female individuals (OR: 1.14, CI: 1.02-1.27), having higher income (OR: 0.85, CI: 0.72-0.99), and perceiving poor oral health status (OR: 5.68, CI: 4.64-6.95). Conclusions: It is necessary to extend and implement the nationwide public assistance of dental care services among the second-to-the bottom and low income people.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.485-492
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• 2023

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to identify factors related to unmet dental care needs among Korean youth, enhance the utilization of dental services by adolescents, furnish basic data for youth-oriented dental projects, and improve access to medical care. Methods: The analysis utilized combined data from the basic and oral databases from the 6th (2013-2015), 7th (2016-2018), and 1st year of the 8th (2019) National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Results: The factors influencing unmet dental care needs were gender, age, household income level, and health insurance. Statistically significant results were observed in relation to the type of dental clinic, recent visits to a dental hospital, experiences of toothache within the past year, subjective oral health status, occurrences of permanent dental caries, and engagement in orthodontic treatment. Conclusions: When formulating future national policies and projects, it is imperative to consider the factors and underlying reasons for the unmet dental care needs of adolescents. It is also necessary to establish oral health policies and institutional measures tailored to the dental care of adolescents.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.355-360
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to examine unmet dental care needs and related factors among adults in Korea. The study included a nationally representative sample of Koreans (Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2104). The dependent variable was unmet dental care need and the independent variables were socioeconomic status and oral health status. The chi-square test and logistic regression analysis were performed to identify the associations between explanatory variables and unmet dental care needs. The major causes of unmet dental care needs included economic burden, work life, and academic reasons; in addition, dental treatment was considered to have lower priority. The factors that had statistically significant relationships with unmet dental care needs were sex, age, self-rated oral health status, and difficulty in mastication. The findings of the study, suggest a need for lower dental insurance copayments in keeping with the policies and principles aimed at strengthening the national health insurance system. In addition, groups with limited access to dental services should be identified, and effective health care policies and services should be established for these individuals.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.571-580
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• 2020

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the factors associated with unmet dental needs among adults with activity limitations. Methods: Data were obtained from the seventh Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). The final sample consisted of 945 adults aged 20 years or older with limited activity. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the influence of predisposing, enabling, and need factors on unmet dental needs. Results: The proportion of adults with unmet dental needs during the last year was 52.2% in the middle-aged group and 45.5% in the older adult group. Higher household income was associated with fewer unmet dental needs in both groups. In the older adult group, married people were less likely to have unmet dental needs. In the middle-aged group, adults who perceived their oral health as poor were more likely to have unmet dental needs. Conclusions: All three factors (predisposing, enabling, and need) were found to be associated with unmet dental needs among adults with activity limitations. Special efforts should be made to improve access to dental care services for middle-aged adults with activity limitations.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.182-187
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• 2018

As the elderly population increases, they are increasingly affected by oral health problems. Therefore, efforts are being made to improve the oral health of older people, alleviate mental discomfort, and reduce unmet dental needs. This study was conducted to confirm the relationship between the National Health Insurance Elderly Denture Coverage and the unmet dental need for the edentulous elderly, as part of the protection policy. We analyzed the 2011 and 2013 Community Health Survey data of the edentulous elderly, aged 75 years or older, before 2012. In order to more precisely confirm the effects of the denture donation policy on unmet dental care, basic life recipients who were subject to the free elderly prosthetic project were excluded from the analysis. The final analysis included 20,400 subjects. According to our investigation of the factors that affect the unmet dental needs of the elderly, the National Health Insurance Elderly Denture Coverage did not affect unmet dental needs. The statistically significant variables that affected the unmet dental needs of the elderly were education and income levels, which are representative socioeconomic status variables. The lower the level of education, the unhealthier the dental care experience, and income levels showed a similar tendency. The elderly who have a low socioeconomic status are more likely to experience unmet dental needs because they lack the knowledge and socioeconomic ability to pay for dental care. Therefore, the policy for health protection of the entire elderly population should be continuously expanded. In addition, the socioeconomically vulnerable groups may have health problems due to the restriction of medical use, which may lead to quality of life deterioration.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.184-194
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• 2019

Background: The extent of coverage rate of the public health insurance is still insufficient to meet healthcare needs. Private health insurance (PHI) plays a role to supplement coverage level of national health insurance in Korea. It is expected that reduce unmet need healthcare. This study was aimed to identify relationship between PHI type and the unmet healthcare need and its associated factors. Methods: Data were obtained from the 2014 Korea Health Panel Survey using nationally representative sample was analyzed. Respondents were 8,667 who were adults over 20 years covered by PHI but have not changed their contract. According to the enrollment form, PHI was classified into three types: fixed-benefit, indemnity, and mixed-type. To identify factors associated with unmet needs, multiple logistic regression conducted using the Andersen model factors, which are predisposing factors, enabling factors, and need factors. Results: Our analysis found that subjects who had PHI with mixed-type were less likely to experience unmet health care needs compared than those who did not have it (odds ratio, 0.80; 95% confidence interval, 0.66-0.98). As a result of analyzing what affected their unmet healthcare needs, the significant factors associated with unmet medical need were gender, marital status, residence in a metropolitan area, low household income, economic activity participation, self-employed insured, physically disabled, low subjective health status, and health-risk factors such as current smoking and drinking. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that having PHI may reduce experience of unmet healthcare needs. Findings unmet healthcare needs factors according to various subjects may be useful in consideration of setting policies for improving accessibility to healthcare in Korea.