The association between visual impairment and dental care utilization in the Korean elderly.

INTRODUCTION: Individuals with visual impairment cannot recognize early-stage oral diseases, thus fail to receive prompt treatment.

AIMS: To evaluate the association between visual impairment and dental care utilization in patients aged ≥65 years.

DESIGN: Retrospective analysis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed annual pooled data collected by the Korean Health Panel between 2011 and 2014; a total of 1472 patients and 13,285 dental visits were analyzed. Visual impairment was categorized as follows: normal vision, moderate vision impairment, and severe vision impairment. Dental treatments were categorized as conservative, prosthodontic, implant, periodontal, surgical, preventive, or others. All data were statistically analyzed using a negative binomial regression.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Frequency of dental care utilization.

RESULTS: Approximately 50% of the subjects had visual impairment. The frequency of dental care utilization for patients with severe vision impairment was 41% less than patients with normal vision. The dental care utilization for implant treatment was two times higher and periodontal treatment was 1.7 times lower than the conservative treatments among patients who reported moderate and severe vision impairment, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: Visual impairment has a negative association with dental care utilization among older adults. It is imperative to implement systematic interventions to prevent visual impairment from becoming a barrier to dental care in this population.