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Relation between socioeconomic indicators and children dental caries in Iran: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Mohammadreza Amiresmaili1, Saeed Amini2, Arash Shahravan3, Reza Goudarzi4, Seyed Hossein Saberi Anari4, Zohre Anbari5, Mahtab Ghanbarnejad6
1 Department of Health Management, Policy and Economics, Faculty of Management and Medical Informatics, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
2 Health Services Management Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
3 Endodontology Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
4 Modeling in Health Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
5 Educational Development Center, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran
6 Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
Correspondence Address:
Saeed Amini
Department of Health Services Management, Faculty of Management and Medical Informatics, Campus of Kerman University of Medical Sciences, 7 Bagh Sq., Kerman
Iran
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/ijpvm.IJPVM_435_17
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The relationship between households' socioeconomic situation (SES) and children dental caries has been assessed in many Iranian studies to evaluate the effect of public dental care programs supporting the poor. Hence, this study through systematic review and meta-analysis has presented a conclusion in this regard. Domestic and foreign databases were searched using keywords designed by concept map. Time limit to search the databases included articles published from 1994 to 2017. Twenty-five articles were entered to the final step of the study, in which 49 relationships between SES and dental caries were assessed. Heterogeneity between studies was assessed using I2. Publication bias has been assessed using funnel plot and Egger's test. The data were assessed by STATA 13.1. Odds ratio and mean difference of children dental caries in high SES households in comparison with low SES households were 0.41 (confidence interval [CI]: 0.30, 0.52) and −0.49 (CI: −0.85, −0.13), respectively. The CI in both cases did not include “null or no effect line,” so there was a significant inverse relation between SES and dental caries. Despite the emphasis on upstream documents on equity in access to dental health services, there was high difference between SES groups in this regard. It is necessary to revise dental health programs at the country level to decrease these differences.
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