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. 2010 Nov;100(11):2262–2269. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2009.184747

TABLE 1.

Means of Selected Participant Variables, by Use of Dental Care: Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS), 2002

Variables All Beneficiaries Population Receiving Preventive Dental Care Population Receiving Only Nonpreventive Dental Care Population Receiving No Dental Care
Number of beneficiariesa 33 725 756 10 948 187 4 053 975 18 723 595
Age, y, %
    < 65 12.48 8.15y 15.96 14.25
    65–69 16.68 18.50x 15.97 15.77
    70–74 24.29 27.35y 24.26 22.51
    75–79 20.89 23.67y 19.30 19.61
    ≥ 80 25.66 22.34x 24.50x 27.86
Women, % 55.71 57.10y 52.61 55.57
Race/ethnicity, %
    Black, non-Hispanic 9.34 2.76y 8.92x 13.28
    Hispanic 7.49 4.27y 9.72 8.90
    White, non-Hispanic 78.96 90.03y 76.19 73.09
    Other, non-Hispanic 3.99 2.72y 4.94 4.53
Annual personal income, %
    ≤ $10 000 20.16 8.36y 18.85x 27.35
    $10 001–$20 000 29.92 20.68y 29.96x 35.31
    $20 001–$35 000 32.21 38.67y 33.05x 28.26
    > $35 000 17.70 32.29y 18.14x 9.08
Education, %
    Some or no high school 32.08 13.61y 28.35x 43.68
    High school graduate 50.09 54.65x 52.86x 46.51
    College graduate 17.64 31.60y 18.54x 9.28
Marital status, %
    Married 52.03 61.07y 54.96x 46.10
    Widowed/divorced 42.06 33.76y 39.63x 47.44
    Never married 5.87 5.13x 5.35 6.41
Household size, %
    1 34.89 31.65x 33.01 37.20
    2 49.90 58.37y 50.56x 44.81
    3 or more 15.18 9.98x 16.43 17.96
Health status, %
    Fair/poor 27.14 17.02y 28.08x 32.86
    Good 31.35 31.00 33.91 31.01
    Excellent/very good 40.04 51.27y 37.02 34.13
Part-year community resident, % 5.45 2.50x 3.27x 7.73
Difficulty eating solid foods because of teeth problems, % 12.19 6.15y 20.10x 14.01
Smoking status, %
    Former smoker 47.51 49.96x 48.43 45.82
    Current smoker 13.73 7.76y 13.82x 17.20
    Never smoked 38.76 42.46y 37.65 36.75
Dental insurance coverage, %b 20.63 46.14y 40.07x 1.50
Limitations in physical functioning
    No. of difficulties with ADLsc 0.70 0.45y 0.74 0.84
    No. of difficulties with IADLsd 1.14 0.75y 1.13x 1.37
    No. of conditions ever diagnosed by physiciane 2.84 2.58y 3.02 2.95
    No. of physical limitationsf 2.18 1.75y 2.25x 2.43
Dental care in past y
    No. of dental events 1.22 2.83z 2.49 0
    No. of dental cleaning events 0.53 1.63 0 0
    No. of dental events not cleaning, exam, or X-rays 0.46 0.83z 1.58 0
Dental costs in past y, $
    All dental events 280.62 560.22z 821.60 0
    Dental cleaning events 66.28 204.18 0 0
    Dental events not cleaning, exam, or X-rays 155.12 262.61z 581.25 0
Out-of-pocket dental costs in past y, $
    All dental events 207.22 407.57z 623.19 0
    Dental cleaning events 47.60 146.62 0 0
    Dental events not cleaning, exam, or X-rays 113.48 189.32z 432.77 0

Note. ADLs = activities of daily living; IADLs = instrumental activities of daily living. Sample includes only full-year or part-year community-dwelling beneficiaries.

a

Includes Medicare beneficiaries with missing values for race/ethnicity, education, marital status, household size, and health status.

b

Limitations in the survey data limit the ability of the MCBS to estimate dental insurance coverage reliably for Medicare beneficiaries who did not see a dentist during the year.

c

Activities of daily living are bathing/showering, dressing, eating, getting in/out of bed/chair, walking, and using the toilet.

d

Instrumental activities of daily living are using the telephone, doing light housework, doing heavy housework, preparing meals, shopping for personal items, and managing money.

e

The list of conditions is as follows: hardening of the arteries, hypertension/high blood pressure, myocardial infarction/heart attack, angina pectoris/coronary heart disease, other heart conditions, stroke/brain hemorrhage, skin cancer, other (nonskin) cancer, diabetes/high blood sugar, rheumatoid arthritis, mental retardation, osteoporosis/soft bones, broken hip, Parkinson's disease, emphysema/asthma/cardiopulmonary disease, complete/partial paralysis, and lost arm or leg.

f

Physical limitations are defined as any difficulty with stooping/crouching, kneeling, lifting/carrying 10 pounds, extending arms above shoulders, writing/handling objects, or walking ¼ mile or 2 to 3 blocks.

x

Indicates that the mean in the column is significantly different from the mean for the population with no dental care (P ≤ .05).

y

Indicates that the mean in the column is significantly different from the mean for the population with only nonpreventive dental care and the mean for the population with no dental care (P ≤ .05).

z

Indicates that the mean in the column is significantly different from the mean for the population with only nonpreventive dental care (P ≤ .05).