IADR Abstract Archives
The National Dental Telephone Interview Survey (NDTIS), Australia
Objectives: To provide an overview of NDTIS, a source of nationally representative population data on oral health and use of dental services in Australia.
Methods: NDTIS, a cross-sectional survey of Australian residents aged 5+ years conducted every 2½ years since 1994 (n»8,000), collects information on access to and use of dental services, self-reported measures of oral health, socioeconomic inequalities, barriers to use of dental services and oral health-related behaviours. A two-stage stratified sample design is used to select a representative sample from the population. Data are weighted to represent the age/sex distribution of the Australian population at the time of each survey.
Results: Between 1994 and 2013 there was an overall increase in the proportion of people visiting the dentist within the last 12 months (56.4%-to-60.3%), last visiting for a check-up (48.3-to-60.5%), and having a favourable visiting pattern (36.3%-to-43.9%). However, people reported experiencing financial barriers to visiting the dentist with an overall increase in the proportion of adults avoiding/delaying visiting due to cost (25.0%-to-35.0%).
Conclusions: NDTIS is a valuable surveillance activity that can be used to measure improvements and declines in oral health and use of dental services across the population, to monitor important trends affecting long-term service delivery planning, and to support policy and programme development. NDTIS is a useful resource for government bodies, dental health professionals, researchers and students. Such an activity is essential for monitoring risk factors and self-reported oral health outcomes, and also for the planning, implementation, and evaluation of dental programmes and practices in Australia.
Methods: NDTIS, a cross-sectional survey of Australian residents aged 5+ years conducted every 2½ years since 1994 (n»8,000), collects information on access to and use of dental services, self-reported measures of oral health, socioeconomic inequalities, barriers to use of dental services and oral health-related behaviours. A two-stage stratified sample design is used to select a representative sample from the population. Data are weighted to represent the age/sex distribution of the Australian population at the time of each survey.
Results: Between 1994 and 2013 there was an overall increase in the proportion of people visiting the dentist within the last 12 months (56.4%-to-60.3%), last visiting for a check-up (48.3-to-60.5%), and having a favourable visiting pattern (36.3%-to-43.9%). However, people reported experiencing financial barriers to visiting the dentist with an overall increase in the proportion of adults avoiding/delaying visiting due to cost (25.0%-to-35.0%).
Conclusions: NDTIS is a valuable surveillance activity that can be used to measure improvements and declines in oral health and use of dental services across the population, to monitor important trends affecting long-term service delivery planning, and to support policy and programme development. NDTIS is a useful resource for government bodies, dental health professionals, researchers and students. Such an activity is essential for monitoring risk factors and self-reported oral health outcomes, and also for the planning, implementation, and evaluation of dental programmes and practices in Australia.