Ulf Gerdtham
Professor
Pure and social disparities in distribution of dentists: a cross-sectional province-based study in iran.
Author
Summary, in English
During past decades, the number of dentists has continuously increased in Iran. Beside the quantity, the distribution of dentists affects the oral health status of population. The current study aimed to assess the pure and social disparities in distribution of dentists across the provinces in Iran in 2009. Data on provinces' characteristics, including population and social situation, were obtained from multiple sources. The disparity measures (including Gini coefficient, index of dissimilarity, Gaswirth index of disparity and relative index of inequality (RII)) and pairwise correlations were used to evaluate the pure and social disparities in the number of dentists in Iran. On average, there were 28 dentists per 100,000 population in the country. There were substantial pure disparities in the distribution of dentists across the provinces in Iran. The unadjusted and adjusted RII values were 3.82 and 2.13, respectively; indicating area social disparity in favor of people in better-off provinces. There were strong positive correlations between density of dentists and better social rank. It is suggested that the results of this study should be considered in conducting plans for redistribution of dentists in the country. In addition, further analyses are needed to explain these disparities.
Department/s
- Health Economics
- Department of Economics
- EpiHealth: Epidemiology for Health
Publishing year
2013
Language
English
Pages
1882-1894
Publication/Series
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Volume
10
Issue
5
Full text
- Available as PDF - 187 kB
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Links
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
MDPI AG
Topic
- Environmental Health and Occupational Health
Status
Published
Research group
- Health Economics
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1660-4601