Analysis of the access of pregnant women to the first programmatic dental appointment: an ecological study

TL;DR

This study explores how social and health factors affect pregnant women's access to dental care in Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Contribution

The study identifies health care indicators as key predictors of dental care access for pregnant women, beyond social factors.

Findings

All indicators analyzed were associated with pregnant women's access to dental care.

Only health care indicators remained statistically significant in regression models.

Primary health care access and teamwork may reduce social inequality in dental care access for pregnant women.

Abstract

To plan and evaluate public health policies, it is important to understand the influence of social factors on the quality and access to dental care. This study aimed to verify the potential association between the indicators of pregnant women receiving dental care and the social and health care indicators of cities in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. A cross-sectional ecological study was performed with secondary data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics and the Health Care Department of the Ministry of Health regarding the cities of Minas Gerais. The study analyzed three health care indicators (such as more than six prenatal, the proportion of syphilis and human immunodeficiency virus tests, and oral health coverage) and four social indicators (average monthly wage, illiteracy rate, proportion of employed population, and rate of adequate sanitary sewerage). Bivariate analysis (Mann-Whitney test) and logistic regression were performed using Jamovi software. All of the indicators analyzed were associated with the access of pregnant women to dental care. However, in the regression models, only health care indicators remained statistically significant. Thus, although social indicators are associated with the access of pregnant women to dental appointments, access to primary health care and the teamwork of primary health care teams may overcome social inequality in the access of pregnant women to dental care.