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L M Okada

Publications and source records attributed to L M Okada.

11 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1979

Factors associated with increased dental care utilization in five urban, low-income areas.

Survey data were used to measure change in dental utilization in five urban low-income areas as a result of increased financial (Medicaid) and facility (community health centers) access to dental care. The average annual dental visit between the baseline and follow-up surveys showed a dramatic increase in four of the five survey areas. With the exception of Roxbury, Massachusetts, where the rate was already high in the earlier survey, the dental visit rate in the remaining areas increased 33 to 80 per cent compared to an increase of only 7 per cent nationally between 1969 and 1975. Both CHC and Medicaid programs made important contributions to increased dental care. Among persons who saw a dentist in the year in these areas, 25 per cent reported CHC as their usual source of dental care and 46 per cent reported that their dental care costs in the year were borne by Medicaid. In spite of recent increases, however, the average annual dental visit rate was only 1.0 in the five areas compared to 1.6 nationally, which is 60 per cent higher. The generally low dental utilization levels among persons covered by Medicaid or served by CHCs may indicate that much of the increased dental utilization which occurred in these areas was limited to taking care of existing dental problems while neglecting preventive dental care.

Community Health Centers↗
PubMed1976

Access to usual source of care by race and income in ten urban areas.

In terms of less access to private sources of care (as distinguished from hospital-public clinics) and longer travel time to usual source of care, poverty areas are at a disadvantage. Within the ten areas studied, the poor have less access than the nonpoor, with access differences even greater between the races than between income groups. Blacks generally have less than whites when income differences are taken into account. Both the type of usual source of care and travel time appear to be related to differential utilizations of ambulatory care resources: persons reporting private sources of care and persons with shorter travel time to their usual source of care tend to make more physician visits in a year. Mechanisms for public financing of health care will not likely alleviate the problems of inaccessibility presented by poverty areas. It is in these areas of low access that public responsibility to organize and locate facilities will continue even after the advent of a fairly comprehensive payment mechanism for health care among the poor.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

Dental visits by income and race in ten urban and two rural areas.

Household surveys in 12 low income areas found large differences in dental visit rates after control for income and race. The dental visit rate for Red Hook (NYC) exceeded the national rate whereas in seven of the areas the rate was below national averages by 40 per cent or more. The ranges in dental visit rate for low income Blacks was from two-thirds the national rate (in two areas of the South) to two to three times greater than the comparable national rate (in three areas of the Northeast). Lesser but nevertheless large variations among area dental visit rates existed for other race and income groups.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Impact of community health centers and Medicaid on the use of health services.

The impact of improved access to health care through the Federal community health center (CHC) and Medicaid programs was examined in five urban low-income areas. Data on access to care and physician, hospital, and dental services utilization were collected by baseline and followup health surveys in the CHCs' services areas. There was a shift in use from hospital clinics to CHCs. Followup surveys indicated that 23 percent of the population reported CHCs as usual source of care. Travel time to source of care was reduced for users of CHCs. Medicaid coverage of the population in the survey areas increased from 16 to 37 percent between the baseline and followup surveys, an interval of 4 to 7 years. Increases occurred in the use of physicians and dental care between the baseline and followup surveys, but the rates scarcely kept pace with the national rates. Respondents who reported CHCs as their usual source of care, however, had a higher rate of physician visits and a lower rate of hospitalization compared with those using private physicians or hospital clinics as the usual source of care. Respondents with Medicaid coverage usually had higher physician and hospital use, irrespective of usual source of care. Both CHC and Medicaid programs contributed to increased use of dental care by providing financial and dental care resources. Although these two programs greatly facilitated the use of health services, disparity in physician and dental utilization remains between the five low-income areas and the averages for the nation.

Adolescent↗