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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Apr 5.
Published in final edited form as: Pediatrics. 2008 Oct;122(4):e805–e814. doi: 10.1542/peds.2008-0118

Table 1.

Personal Characteristics of Mothers and Children by Racial/Ethnic Group (Averages and Percentages)

Black
Mothers
(n=661)
Hispanic
Mothers
(n= 1142)
White
Mothers
(n=1094)
p-value Asian
Mothers
(n=176)
American
Indian
Mothers
(n=98)
Mothers
Average Age 30.6 ± 6.0 30.6 ± 6.0 31.1 ± 6.2 0.126 33.1 ± 6.6 30.8 ± 5.8
Living Status
 Mother living alone (%) 68% 23% 38% 0.000 28% 37%
Immigration Status
 Percent immigrants 9% 77% 7% 0.000 88% 1%
Length of Residence
Years lived in county
 <1 year 3% 3% 3% 0.013 6% 3%
 Between 1-2 years 9% 9% 10% 7% 10%
 Between 3-5 years 13% 19% 15% 15% 11%
 >5 years 76% 69% 72% 73% 75%
Years lived at same address
 <1 year 27% 18% 22% 0.000 21% 22%
 Between 1-2 years 39% 32% 33% 27% 23%
 Between 3-5 years 23% 28% 25% 25% 25%
 >5 years 11% 22% 21% 28% 30%
Education
 Did not finish high school 13% 50% 11% 0.000 15% 17%
 High school diploma or GED 35% 34% 35% 35% 42%
 Some college or 2-year associate 48% 14% 46% 35% 35%
 4-year college degree or higher 4% 3% 8% 16% 6%
Employment Status
 Employment full-time 36% 30% 31% 0.000 39% 27%
 Employed part-time or in school 26% 24% 27% 27% 23%
 Homemaker 12% 30% 29% 22% 22%
 Disabled 6% 2% 4% 3% 3%
 Unemployed 19% 15% 10% 10% 24%
Dental insurance
 None 25% 74% 50% 0.000 53% 50%
 Medicaid 58% 14% 36% 22% 38%
 Private 18% 12% 15% 25% 13%
Annual Household income
 <$10,000 59% 46% 41% 0.000 43% 48%
 $10,000-$20,000 25% 31% 28% 28% 26%
 >$20,000 16% 23% 31% 29% 27%
Cigarette Smoking
 Some days or everyday (%) 35% 7% 38% < 0.001 13% 34%
Dental Beliefs/Fear
 Mother believes dentist visits can
 prevent loose teeth
57% 74% 63% < 0.001 73% 56%
 High dental fear (%) 18% 22% 18% 0.080 11% 16%
Mental health score
 1 (Best) 17% 19% 9% < 0.001 13% 12%
 2 38% 42% 43% 35% 46%
 3 28% 28% 30% 36% 25%
 4 13% 9% 14% 13% 9%
 5-6 (Worst) 5% 3% 4% 3% 8%
Survey Mode
 Web 5% 3% 11% < 0.001 7% 7%
 Mail 71% 61% 70% 82% 78%
 Telephone 24% 36% 19% 11% 15%
Children
Personal & Family Characteristics
 Child's age (years, mean ± SD) 5.1 ± 1.2 4.9 ± 1.2 5.0 ± 1.2 0.007 4.9 ± 1.3 5.2 ± 1.2
 Female (%) 52% 50% 48% 0.315 50% 51%
 Days enrolled in Medicaid, 2005
 (mean±SD)
344±62 350±50 341±67 <0.001 327±90 335±76
 Household primary language not
 English (%)
3% 67% 4% < 0.001 22% 2%
 Caregiver not U.S. citizen (%) 0.3% 0.7% 2.1% < 0.001 1.1% 0%
Dental Characteristics
 Mother rated oral health of child
 (avg)
3.7 ± 1.1 3.3 ± 1.1 3.7 ± 1.1 < 0.001 3.4 ± 1.1 3.3 ± 1.1
 Sometimes/frequently had dental
 pain (%)
16% 16% 13% 0.102 11% 20%
 High dental fear (%) 11% 24% 13% < 0.001 22% 18%
 Enrolled in ABCD Program (%) 4% 25% 24% < 0.001 11% 22%
County Characteristics
 Lives in Rural Zip code (%) 2% 40% 22% < 0.001 2% 32%
 Medicaid dentists per 10K
 residents in county
2.7 ± 0.4 2.6 ± 0.7 2.8 ± 0.8 < 0.001 2.7 ± 0.5 2.8 ± 0.8