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Dental Care Trajectories Among Formerly Incarcerated Older Adults in the United States

Fri, Nov 14, 9:30 to 10:50am, Marquis Salon 15 - M2

Abstract

This study aims to investigate whether prior incarceration is associated with differing trajectories of dental care use among older adults in the United States. Data were from the 2012-2020 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a nationally representative longitudinal survey of older adults in the United States (n = 5,893). Group-based trajectory modeling was used to estimate dental care use patterns over time. Multinomial logistic regression was used to assess the association between prior incarceration and dental care trajectories. Dental care patterns followed three trajectories: regular dental care use (48.1%), moderate-declining dental care use (27.3%), and low dental care use (24.6%). Bivariate multinomial logistic regression analyses revealed that prior incarceration was significantly associated with higher relative risks of being in the moderate-declining (Relative Risk Ratio [RRR] = 2.75, 95% CI = 2.08-3.63) and low dental care use trajectories (RRR = 2.88, 95% CI = 2.10-3.94) compared to the regular dental care use group. After adjusting for sociodemographic, economic, and healthcare-related covariates, formerly incarcerated individuals had a 1.52 times higher relative risk of belonging to the moderate-declining dental care trajectory (RRR = 1.52, 95% CI = 1.16–1.98). These findings underscore the need for targeted interventions to address dental care disparities among formerly incarcerated individuals, which could lead to improved oral and overall health outcomes for this vulnerable population.

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