Spatial inequality of dental caries in the Brazilian territory.

Rayanne Karina Silva Cruz,Yan Nogueira Leite De Freitas,Tamires Carneiro De Oliveira Mendes,Flávia Christiane De Azevedo Machado,Maria Angela Fernandes Ferreira,Maisa Paulino Rodrigues,Janmille Valdivino Da Silva

doi:10.1590/1807-3107bor-2019.vol33.0122

Rayanne Karina Silva Cruz, Yan Nogueira Leite De Freitas + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/1807-3107bor-2019.vol33.0122

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Abstract

The distribution of harms to health varies spatially determined by the socioeconomic conditions of the environment. This research aimed to assess the spatial distribution of dental caries in 12-year-old children and their correlation with socioeconomic indicators in Brazilian states. The sample of this ecological study comprised all the 26 Brazilian states and the Federal District. Thematic and correlation maps were constructed in order to assess the spatial dependency, as well as the correlation between dental caries and socioeconomic factors. The results showed that the states with the worst DMFT indexes were located in the north and northeast, showing spatial autocorrelation. These regions also had the worst results for the following variables: poverty, illiteracy, education, and income. The bivariate analysis showed that household income and education level had negative spatial correlation with the DMFT index, while illiteracy and poverty rates showed positive correlation. Despite advances in the decline of DMFT index in recent years, there is still an inequity in the distribution of the caries disease.

Highlights

IntroductionHealth has been understood as the result of the social organization of production, which is affected by multiple factors, such as housing, food, education, work, income, environment, and access to goods and essential services, among others.[1] According to the Organic Law of Health,[2] health levels of the Brazilian population express the social and economic organization of the country
Declaration of Interests: The authors certify that they have no commercial or associative interest that represents a conflict of interest in connection with the manuscript.Submitted: October 4, 2018 Accepted for publication: November 1, 2019 Last revision: November 29, 2019Health has been understood as the result of the social organization of production, which is affected by multiple factors, such as housing, food, education, work, income, environment, and access to goods and essential services, among others.[1]
Data on socioeconomic conditions of the Brazilian population, with reference to level of education, illiteracy rate, and unemployment rate, were obtained from PNAD 2009 (National Survey per Household Sample), while the Gini index, poverty rate, and household per capita income were obtained from Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA)

Summary

Introduction

Health has been understood as the result of the social organization of production, which is affected by multiple factors, such as housing, food, education, work, income, environment, and access to goods and essential services, among others.[1] According to the Organic Law of Health,[2] health levels of the Brazilian population express the social and economic organization of the country. Oral health – as an integral part of health as a whole – is included in this context and it is influenced by the same factors, in particular by the socioeconomic conditions of the population. According to the Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA), the 20% of families with the highest incomes in 2014 were 16 times more than the 20% of those families with the lowest incomes. It should be recognized that serious disparities still persist.[3,4]

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