Table 3.
Individual and community characteristics associated with dental service utilisation stratified by residential areas.
| Variables | Rural | Urban |
|---|---|---|
| OR (95% CI) | OR (95% CI) | |
| Fixed-effects (OR with 95% CI) | - | - |
| Individual-level variables | - | - |
| Age | 1.007 (1.001–1.014) | 1.006 (1.001–1.011) |
| Sex (ref: female) | - | - |
| Male | 0.881 (0.679–1.144) | 0.826 (0.701–0.972) |
| Current marital status (ref: not married) | - | - |
| Married | 0.680 (0.558–0.829) | 0.739 (0.648–0.844) |
| Educational attainment (ref: elementary school or below) | - | - |
| Junior high school | 1.630 (1.253–2.119) | 1.330 (1.089–1.624) |
| Senior high school | 2.389 (1.853–3.081) | 1.863 (1.550–2.239) |
| Higher education | 5.292 (3.936–7.114) | 3.688 (2.990–4.550) |
| Economic status (ref: quintile 1, poorest) | - | - |
| Quintile 2 | 1.365 (1.037–1.797) | 1.059 (0.815–1.376) |
| Quintile 3 | 1.788 (1.351–2.365) | 1.194 (0.926–1.540) |
| Quintile 4 | 1.903 (1.434–2.526) | 1.588 (1.237–2.040) |
| Quintile 5 (richest) | 2.407 (1.789–3.240) | 1.775 (1.380–2.283) |
| Health insurance (ref: no) | - | - |
| Yes | 1.298 (1.088–1.548) | 1.302 (1.151–1.473) |
| Dental pain (ref: no) | - | - |
| Yes | 4.020 (3.309–4.883) | 3.012 (2.611–3.474) |
| Self-reported mouth ulcers (ref: no) | - | - |
| Yes | 1.114 (0.899–1.381) | 1.374 (1.195–1.580) |
| Self-rated health status (ref: unhealthy) | - | - |
| Healthy | 0.882 (0.710–1.096) | 1.001 (0.863–1.161) |
| Unmet healthcare needs (ref: no) | - | - |
| Yes | 0.872 (0.689–1.102) | 0.784 (0.660–0.931) |
| Smoking status (ref: never) | - | - |
| Former | 0.988 (0.627–1.556) | 1.073 (0.814–1.414) |
| Current | 1.041 (0.789–1.375) | 0.774 (0.645–0.930) |
| Community-level variables | ||
| Cognitive social capital (ref: low) | - | - |
| High | 1.140 (0.910–1.427) | 1.019 (0.842–1.232) |
| Structural social capital (ref: low) | - | - |
| Medium | 1.139 (0.889–1.458) | 1.212 (0.941–1.561) |
| High | 1.029 (0.726–1.458) | 1.600 (1.243–2.059) |
| Random effects | ||
| Null model community random variance (SE) | 0.283 (0.071) | 0.434 (0.066) |
| Community random variance (SE) | 0.122 (0.047) | 0.227 (0.044) |
| VPC | 0.036 | 0.065 |
| PCV (%) | 56.9% | 47.7% |
Note: Results were based on multilevel logistic regression analyses, with non-users as a reference group. Bold values represent significant associations. The significance level was set at a p-value < 0.05. OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval; SE, standard error; VPC, variance partition coefficient; PCV, proportional change in variance.