Health Services and Outcomes Research in Adults

Objectives: The aim was to present information on health services and outcomes research among adults in Australia.
Methods: Approaches to studying health services and outcomes will consider different levels of outcomes, use of cohort designs, costs of treatment, and collection of data on oral and general health. Examples of studies of health services and outcomes research will be presented from projects such as the Study of Oral Health and Use of Dental Services (n=879), the Fourth Decade Study (n=777), and the Impact of Insurance on Use of Dental Services and Oral Health Study (n=1093).
Results: Worsening in oral health was associated with extractions and dentures, and inversely associated with visiting and preventive care. History of adverse dental events between the age of 13 and 30 was associated with higher impact of oral health problems at age 30. Dental insurance status was not associated with total expenditure, but insured had lower median out-of-pocket expenditure than uninsured adults. For lower socio-economic groups being insured was associated with better self-rated dental health.
Conclusions: Studies of health services and outcomes should include a range of patient-based outcomes, including quality of life measures. Prospective designs can be used to assess change in outcomes related to health services. Including costs of care and generic health measures can enable cost-utility analyses and assessment of common risk factors.