Socioeconomic factors and the provision of public oral care services in the State of Goiás, Brazil

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between socioeconomic indexes (SEI) and the provision of public dental care services in the municipalities of the State of Goiás, Brazil. Methods: Data were obtained from the Health Development Atlas, the Brazilian Federal Dental Council and the Primary Healthcare Information System (PHIS). The following socioeconomic indexes were used: Gini coefficient, Human Development Index (HDI), per-capita income and illiteracy rates. The k-means cluster analysis was used to group municipalities according to their socioeconomic variables, and these groups were compared according to the number of inhabitants per dentist, coverage of the Family Health Strategy (FHS) and Oral Healthcare Teams (OHT), and the Variable Budget for Primary Oral Healthcare (VBPOH) per inhabitant. Results: Three subgroups were clustered according to their SEI: high (n=21), intermediary (n=109) and low (n=112). There was less funding for oral health per inhabitant and less coverage by the FHS and OHT for municipalities with better SEI, and the inhabitants/dentist ratio was higher in lower SEI (p<0.001). Conclusion: The assumption of equity in the public health system was achieved. However, the distribution of dentists in municipalities with different socioeconomic levels is consistent with the rationale of the private market.