Psychosocial Risk Exposure Limits Routine Pediatric Oral Health Care

Abstract

ObjectivesTo identify social, psychological, and contextual factors that influenced attendance at routine oral health visits in a cohort of 189 preschool children who were followed over a 2-year period. MethodsGeneralized estimating equation was used to examine the association between clinic attendance and the predictors. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were reported in the multiple logistic regression models. The study was conducted in Rochester, NY between February 2016-February 2021. ResultsPrior to the COVID-19 pandemic declaration, the rate of cancelled and no-show appointments was greater for routine clinic visits (20% and 24%, respectively) than for research visits (14% and 9% respectively) for the same participants; these rates increased during the pandemic. After adjusting for socio-demographic factors, the likelihood of a cancelled or no-show appointment was associated with parental depression (OR 1.06 CI 1.03-1.09), regardless of the type or occurrence of the visit. ConclusionsFindings from this study demonstrate that attendance to oral health care in young children is reliably reduced with parental depression and that this may provide one mechanism for early emerging health inequalities of oral health.