Determining the most appropriate socioeconomic status indicator for describing inequalities in dental visits by Japanese older people.

Objectives: This study examined the association between various socioeconomic status (SES) indicators and dental visits among older Japanese.

Background: When examining health inequalities, an adequate indicator of SES should be applied. In older adults, wealth and pensions are considered more appropriate indicators of SES than education and income, but few studies have examined.

Methods: This cross-sectional study used data from 12 391 individuals aged 65 years or older from the 2016 Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES). The Slope Index of Inequality (SII) and the Relative Index of Inequality (RII) were applied to examine the association of education, income, wealth and pensions with dental visits for treatment and check-up adjusting for covariates.

Results: The mean age of the participants was 74.0 ± 6.2 years. In the previous year, 56.3% of participants had visited a dentist for a check-up, and 65.9% had visited for treatment. Inequalities in dental treatment visits were observed for wealth, pensions and income rather than education. Income was not significantly associated with check-up visits. Wealth showed the largest association with dental visits for treatment [(SII 0.09, 95% CI 0.06 to 0.13), (RII 1.14, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.21)] and check-up [(SII 0.08, 95% CI 0.05 to 0.12), (RII 1.16, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.23)].

Conclusion: When measuring inequalities in access to dental care among the older population, wealth and pensions could be important indicators of SES.