As the elderly population increases, they are increasingly affected by oral health problems. Therefore, efforts are being made to improve the oral health of older people, alleviate mental discomfort, and reduce unmet dental needs. This study was conducted to confirm the relationship between the National Health Insurance Elderly Denture Coverage and the unmet dental need for the edentulous elderly, as part of the protection policy. We analyzed the 2011 and 2013 Community Health Survey data of the edentulous elderly, aged 75 years or older, before 2012. In order to more precisely confirm the effects of the denture donation policy on unmet dental care, basic life recipients who were subject to the free elderly prosthetic project were excluded from the analysis. The final analysis included 20,400 subjects. According to our investigation of the factors that affect the unmet dental needs of the elderly, the National Health Insurance Elderly Denture Coverage did not affect unmet dental needs. The statistically significant variables that affected the unmet dental needs of the elderly were education and income levels, which are representative socioeconomic status variables. The lower the level of education, the unhealthier the dental care experience, and income levels showed a similar tendency. The elderly who have a low socioeconomic status are more likely to experience unmet dental needs because they lack the knowledge and socioeconomic ability to pay for dental care. Therefore, the policy for health protection of the entire elderly population should be continuously expanded. In addition, the socioeconomically vulnerable groups may have health problems due to the restriction of medical use, which may lead to quality of life deterioration.
Aged* ; Dental Care ; Dentures* ; Education ; Health Surveys ; Humans ; National Health Programs* ; Oral Health ; Quality of Life ; Social Class

OBJECTIVES: To investigate compliance of hypertension patients using modified Theory of Reasoned Action(TRA). METHODS: The data were collected for 7-12 April 1997, by interviewing 190 hypertension patients in Hwachon, Kangwon-do. The analytical techniques employed include contingency table analysis and logit analysis. RESULTS: 15.1% of patients were unaware of the fact that he/she has hypertension and 11.2% did not know that he/she should take drug. 26.8% of patients took drug continuously, 20.1% had drug intermittently, and 53.1% had never have treatment. In the contingency table analysis, several variables were found to be significantly related to patient compliance. They included variables for attitude towards the consequences of taking drugs, normative beliefs, systolic BP at the enrollment, knowledge of how to take hypertensive drugs, variables for general health behavior and experience with having health worker's home visit. The logit analysis was performed by two steps. First step uses experience with drug treatment of hypertension as the dependent variable, and second step uses continuity of treatment. Included in the predictors that are significantly related to the former analysis are subjected norms produced by combining normative beliefs and motivation to comply, knowledge of how to take hypertensive drugs, and opinion about natural recovery of diseases. The only significant determinant of continuous treatment was knowledge of how to take hypertensive drugs. CONCLUSIONS: The results of analysis suggest the usefulness of TRA as a framework for the study of compliance of hypertensive patients. The findings have some practical implication as well. One is that efforts for enhancing compliance should be directed not only patients but also to other persons influencing patient's attitude and behavior. It also suggest that correct understanding of hypertension treatment is essential to perform the appropriate patient role.
Compliance ; Gangwon-do ; Health Behavior ; House Calls ; Humans ; Hypertension* ; Motivation ; Patient Compliance*