Public priorities for government spending on dental health care: a cross sectional study

Abstract

To expand research on the dynamics of public priorities and government spending on dental care by examining public preferences for government spending on dental care in relation to other important public health concerns. 1) To determine whether dental care is a top public priority among rural and urban population of Rangareddy district of Andhra Pradesh. 2) To identify factors predictive of a first priority ranking for dental care. Data were collected from a stratified random sample of 512 individuals aged 18 and above through a questionnaire. Respondents were asked to rank five priorities (drinking water and basic sanitation, mother and child care, dental care, life threatening conditions and vaccination) in terms of preferences for the government spending. Simple descriptive analyses were undertaken based on socio demographic characteristics. Multiple logistic regression modeling was conducted to determine which factors are predictive of a first priority ranking for dental care. Comparatively, dental care stands as the fourth choice among the other spending priority areas. First priority ranking of dental care appears to be linked to socioeconomic factors: residentiality, household income, educational status and general insurance coverage. Public did not consider dental care a first priority for the government spending relative to other health concerns. A sustained effort should be made to push forward public dental care policies that target priority population subgroups.