장기요양보험 수급 노인의 치과의료 이용과 관련 요인: 국민건강보험공단 노인코호트 자료 분석 = Factors associated with dental service utilization among long-term care insurance recipients: analysis of the national elderly cohort database

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Objectives: This study examined dental care utilization among older adults who use long-term care(LTC) insurance and identified sociodemographic and LTC-related factors associated with dentalcare utilization.
Methods: This cross-sectional study analyzed the 2019 data from the National Health InsuranceService-National Elderly Cohort Database. We examined the data of 50,606 beneficiaries aged ≥60years. Stepwise multiple logistic regression was performed to identify the impact of sociodemographic and LTC-specific factors on dental service utilization.
Results: The dental care utilization rate was 29.4%. Higher utilization was significantly associatedwith male sex, younger age, urban residence, higher income, and disability. Notably, LTC characteristics were strong predictors of dental service utilization: home-based care users were 2.26times more likely to use dental services than facility-based users (OR=2.26, 95% CI: 2.11-2.43).
Utilization significantly decreased with higher LTC severity (grade 1; OR=0.22). Dental utilizationwas higher when a spouse was the primary caregiver but lower when care was provided by paidcaregivers.
Conclusions: Dental care utilization among LTC recipients is constrained by structural factors, including benefit types and caregiving environments. Policy efforts should focus on institutionalizinghome-visit dental services and enhancing caregivers’ oral health competencies within the LTC system.