Factors Influencing Utilization of Oral Healthcare Services among Adult Residents in the Keea District

Abstract

Background: There is a crucial link between oral health and general health, as the mouth is the entry point to the digestive and respiratory systems, and as such poor conditions of the oral cavity can result in general ill-health. Accounting for a 64% increase in Disability-Adjusted Life Years over the past twenty-five years, oral diseases pose a serious public health challenge to policymakers. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess factors influencing the utilization of oral healthcare services among adults living in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo- Abirem District. Methods: A cross-sectional quantitative study was conducted among adult residents in Elmina and Ankaful in the KEEA District. Multi-staged sampling approach with a simple random sampling technique was adopted to select participants. Data was analysed using STATA 16.0. Proportion of oral health utilization was computed with a 95% confidence interval. Test of association was conducted at both first and second levels. Test of association at first level was reported in chi-square. Crude and adjusted odds ratios were reported with 95% confidence intervals and statistical significance test set at p< 0.05. Results: A total of 297 respondents participated in the study giving a response rate of 96.4%. The mean age of the participants was 34.8 + 11.9 years. About 52% of the respondents were female. Awareness of an existing dental facility in the district was relatively high (77.8%) while 72.4% had visited the facility at least once. However, only 30.6% had utilized oral health services in the last one year. Utilization of oral health services was influenced by predisposing factors (age and marital status), need factors (fear of pain and use of traditional method/herbal) and enabling factors (distance to dental facility, waiting time at the facility and means of payment for oral health services). Conclusion: Despite the high number of people visiting the dental facility for at least one service, few followed up to acquire further services as recommended. Therefore, it is imperative for oral health workers to intensify campaigns on the need for a minimum of two dental visits per year per person as recommended.