RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to determine the impact of a patient's ethnicity on seeking preventive dental services at the Community Health Centers (CHCs) in South-Central Texas. METHODS: Primary electronic health records (EHR) data were collected regarding each patient's medical and dental history, and comprehensive treatment planning. The researchers retrieved EHR from January 2016 to 2022. Bivariate analysis was completed to test the outcome with the predictor variable and covariates using the appropriate statistical tests. A multiple linear regression model was used to understand the association between the predictor and outcome variable while controlling for confounders. RESULTS: The study findings revealed significantly higher dental visits (2.26 ± 2.88) for Hispanic patients. The results from the multiple regression model indicated that non-Hispanic patients had a smaller chance of visiting CHC for preventive dental services, by eight percent, compared to the Hispanic population (p-value < 0.001) when all other variables were held constant. However, the study results were not significant, as the effect size was too small to conclude the effect of ethnicity on the patients visiting the dental clinic at the CHC for preventive services. CONCLUSION: The study concluded that there is no difference in the preventive dental services completed by Hispanics and non-Hispanics when all other variables are controlled.
RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To assess both individual and interactive effects of prenatal medical conditions depression and diabetes, and health behaviors including smoking during pregnancy on infant birth defects. METHODS: The data for this research study were collected by the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) in 2018. Birth certificate records were used in each participating jurisdiction to select a sample representative of all women who delivered a live-born infant. Complex sampling weights were used to analyze the data with a weighted sample size of 4,536,867. Descriptive statistics were performed to explore frequencies of the independent and dependent variables. Bivariate and multivariable analyses were conducted to examine associations among the independent and dependent variables. RESULTS: The results indicate significant interaction between the variables smoking and depression and depression and diabetes (OR = 3.17; p-value < 0.001 and OR = 3.13; p-value < 0.001, respectively). Depression during pregnancy was found to be strongly associated with delivering an infant with a birth defect (OR = 1.31, p-value < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Depression during pregnancy and its interaction with smoking and diabetes are vital in determining birth defects in infants. The results indicate that birth defects in the United States can be reduced by lowering depression in pregnant women.