Access to and use of oral health services among the elderly in Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil

This article sought to measure lack of access and use of oral health services by elderly residents of Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. This is a cross-sectional population study carried out in 2014, in the city's urban zone, including individuals aged 60 years or more. Sociodemographic and self-reported needs variables were associated with outcomes. We used Poisson regression for the crude and adjusted analyses. We interviewed 1,451 elderly individuals using a structured questionnaire. The prevalence of lack of access in the previous year was of 1.8% (95%CI: 0.7-3.0). Elderly individuals who never had a consultation were 3.1% (95%CI: 2.2-4.0) and the prevalence of use of oral health services in the previous years was 38.3%(95%CI 36.0-41.0). Use in the previous year was positively associated with the following variables: younger age (PR = 1.16), having a partner (PR = 1.28), high educational level (PR = 1.31), mouth or teeth problems (PR = 1.93), need for dental prosthesis (PR = 1.36) and being edentulous (PR = 3.11). Lack of access in the previous year was low. Oral health service use was higher than that observed in other states. Findings seem to reflect the expansion of oral health services in the city, especially in the public network, and are useful for health policy planning.