Oral health care and mobile ownership in Chinese seniors: CHARLS findings

Objective Low oral health utilization in elderly individuals is a prominent condition in an aging society. With the increasing coverage of mobile phone ownership, the objective of this study is to empirically examine the relationship between the widespread ownership of mobile phones and the utilization of dental services among the elderly population across the nation. Methods We analyzed data from the 2015 wave of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). The study subjects were elderly individuals aged 60 years or older. The independent variable of oral health care utilization was collected and categorized into “yes” and “no”. To conduct data analysis, we employed the t -test for quantitative variables and the chi-square test for qualitative variables. A logistic regression model was constructed to explore the association between oral health care utilization and mobile phone ownership. Results The total sample size in our study was 9,861. Among elderly individuals, 18.9% reported utilizing dental services within the preceding year. The sample's demographic profile revealed that 39.7% of participants were aged 75 years or older, and 49.7% were female. Age, region, satisfaction with local healthcare services, and mobile phone ownership were significantly associated with dental service utilization. Among elderly individuals, regional variations significantly influenced the prevalence of dental care utilization among elderly individuals with (OR = 1.30, 95% CI: 0.06–0.24) and without mobile phones (OR = 1.29, 95% CI: 0.08–0.25), as assessed by oral health utilization. Furthermore, those satisfied with local health services exhibited a higher likelihood of service utilization, irrespective of mobile phone ownership status (OR = 0.86, 95% CI: −0.14 to 0.03) vs. (OR = 0.90, 95% CI: −0.11 to 0.04). Conclusion The utilization rate of oral health utilization was low in older Chinese individuals. With respect to mobile phone ownership, we found that region significantly increased the likelihood of oral health utilization in the adjusted model. Our results may be useful for the development of policies aimed at achieving greater oral health utilization in older adults with mobile phones, especially those who are not living in urban areas.