Disparities in the experience and treatment of dental caries among children aged 9–18 years: the cross-sectional study of Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2012–2013)

Kim, Juyeong; Choi, Young; Park, Sohee; Kim, Jeong Lim; Lee, Tae-Hoon; Cho, Kyoung Hee; Park, Eun-Cheol

doi:10.1186/s12939-016-0377-x

International Journal for Equity in Health

Table 1 General characteristics and health behaviors of children aged 9–18 years with incidents and non-treatment of caries

From: Disparities in the experience and treatment of dental caries among children aged 9–18 years: the cross-sectional study of Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2012–2013)

Variables	N	%^c	Experience of caries^a					Non-treatment^b (DMFT ≥ 1)
			(n = 1253)					(n = 808)
			Yes (DMFT ≥ 1)		No (DMFT = 0)			Yes		No
			N	%^d	N	%^d	P	N	%^e	N	%^e	P
At the household level (1,253 children in 905 households)	1253	100	808	64.5	445	35.5		582	72.0	226	28.0
Household income level
Low	431	34.4	279	64.7	152	35.3	0.976	217	77.8	62	22.2	0.005
Middle	399	31.8	258	64.7	141	35.3		188	72.9	70	27.1
High	423	33.8	271	64.1	152	35.9		177	65.3	94	34.7
Maternal education level
Elementary school graduate or lower	37	3	26	70.3	11	29.7	0.022	22	84.6	4	15.4	0.114
Middle or high school graduate	766	61.1	514	67.1	252	32.9		377	73.4	137	26.7
Some college or university graduate	450	35.9	268	59.6	182	40.4		183	68.3	85	31.7
At the children level
Sex
Male	668	53.3	387	57.9	281	42.1	< .0001	304	78.6	83	21.5	0.002
Female	585	46.7	421	52.1	164	28.0		278	66.0	143	34.0
Age
9 to 12 years	432	34.5	200	46.3	232	53.7	< .0001	131	65.5	69	34.5	0.056
13 to 15 years	445	35.5	310	69.7	135	30.3		232	74.8	78	25.2
16 to 18 years	376	30	298	79.3	78	20.7		219	73.5	79	26.5
Region of residence
Urban	1028	82	665	64.7	363	35.3	0.810	488	73.4	177	26.6	0.388
Rural	225	18	143	63.6	82	36.4		94	65.7	49	34.3
Type of health insurance
NHI	1214	96.9	779	64.2	435	35.8	0.133	561	72.0	218	28.0	0.272
Medical aid	39	3.1	29	74.4	10	25.6		21	72.4	8	27.6
Private insurance
Yes	1104	88.1	696	63.0	408	37.0	0.003	497	71.4	199	28.6	0.713
No	149	11.9	112	75.2	37	24.8		85	75.9	27	24.1
Self-rated perception of dental health status
High	247	19.7	132	53.4	115	46.6	< .0001	100	75.8	32	24.2	0.580
Middle	733	58.5	466	63.6	267	36.4		332	71.2	134	28.8
Low	273	21.8	210	76.9	63	23.1		150	71.4	60	28.6
Experience of preventive dental care in the past year
Yes	121	9.7	73	60.3	48	39.7	0.882	42	57.5	31	42.5	0.011
No	1132	90.3	735	64.9	397	35.1		540	73.5	195	26.5
Frequency of teeth brushing per day
0-1	109	8.7	70	64.2	39	35.8	0.892	61	87.1	9	12.9	0.007
2 ≤	1144	91.3	738	64.5	406	35.5		521	70.6	217	29.4
Number of tools used for oral care
None	864	69	532	61.6	332	38.4	0.009	387	72.7	145	27.3	0.143
One or more	389	31.1	276	71.0	113	29.1		195	70.7	81	29.4
Regular checkups for oral care
Yes	597	47.7	382	64.0	215	36.0	0.906	227	59.4	155	40.6	< .0001
No	656	52.4	426	64.9	230	35.1		355	83.3	71	16.7
DMFT score
0	445	35.5	0	0.0	445	100.0	< .0001
1≤	808	64.5	808	100.0	0	0.0		582	72.0	226	28.0	< .0001
Year
2012	509	40.6	369	72.5	140	27.5	< .0001	266	72.1	103	27.9	0.406
2013	744	59.4	439	59.0	305	41.0		316	72.0	123	28.0

^aRepresents the distribution of those with experience of dental caries (DMFT ≤ 1), based on a total of 1253 children
^bRepresents the distribution of those who did not receive treatment of dental caries among those with experience of dental caries (DMFT ≤ 1), based on a total of 808 children
^cWeighted column percent (%) based on 1253 participants
^dWeighted row percent (%) of experience of caries (DMFT ≥ 1) based on 1253 participants
^eWeighted row percent (%) of non-treatment of caries based on 808 participants with experience of caries (DMFT ≥ 1)

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