FACTORS AFFECTING PUBLIC SECTOR DENTAL SERVICES ACCESSIBILITY AMONG THE ELDERLY IN WAENG YAI DISTRICT, KHON KAEN PROVINCE

Abstract

This cross-sectional descriptive research aimed to study factors affecting public sector dental services accessibility among the elderly in Waeng Yai District, Khon Kaen Province. The samples were 356 elderlies randomly selected by stratified random sampling from the elderly population of 4,849 individuals in Waeng Yai District, Khon Kaen Province. Results were collected by questionnaire and verified by the three experts for content validity item objective congruence (IOC), all items were above 0.50 and the Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient was at 0.97. Data were collected between 1st and 31st August 2020. Data distribution was performed by descriptive statistics such as Frequency, Percentage, Mean, Standard deviation, Median, Minimum and Maximum; and Inferential statistics such as Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient and Stepwise multiple linear regression. The level of statistical significance was set at 0.05. The study showed that the public sector dental services accessibility among the elderly was high level. (=2.49, S.D.=0.42). The predisposing factors about belief in oral health (r = 0.404, p-value <0.001), and the reinforcing factors (r = 0.663, p-value <0.001) were moderately related to public sector dental services accessibility among the elderly; and perceive  need factors was not related to public sector dental services accessibility among the elderly. The study showed four variables: (1) Support from government officials; (2) Support from family; (3) Support from government sector; and (4) Perceived susceptibility. These four factors could predict public sector dental services accessibility among the elderly in Waeng Yai District, Khon Kaen Province at 49.30 percentage (R²adj=0.493).The obstacles are lack of knowledge on dental health by the elderly, loss of teeth and difficulty chewing, inadequate dental examination services and inconvenience of travelling to public sector dental services, The research also suggests that government officials should be encouraged to have knowledge on oral health. Dental examination services in the community and dental services in remote areas should be organized.