2 - Dental Care Trajectories Among Formerly Incarcerated Older Adults in the United States

Abstract: Objectives
Despite the growing evidence between prior incarceration and lower dental care use, the impact of previous incarceration on dental care patterns over time among older adults remains unexplored. In this presentation, we will discuss the results of our investigation to determine whether prior incarceration is associated with differing trajectories of dental care use among older adults in the United States.
Methods
Data were drawn from the 2012-2020 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a nationally representative longitudinal survey of older adults in the United States (n = 5,893). Group-based trajectory modeling estimated dental care use patterns over time, categorizing respondents into regular, moderate-declining, and low-dental care use groups. Multinomial logistic regression was employed to examine the relationship between prior incarceration and membership in these trajectory groups.
Results
Bivariate analyses revealed that prior incarceration was significantly associated with higher relative risks of being in the moderate-declining (Relative Risk Ratio [RRR] = 2.75, 95% CI = 2.08-3.63) and low dental care use trajectories (RRR = 2.88, 95% CI = 2.10-3.94) compared to the regular dental care use group. After adjusting for sociodemographic, economic, and healthcare-related factors, formerly incarcerated individuals had a 1.52 times higher relative risk of belonging to the moderate-declining dental care trajectory (RRR = 1.52, 95% CI = 1.16–1.98).
Conclusions
There is a need for targeted interventions to address dental care disparities among formerly incarcerated individuals, which could lead to improved oral and overall health outcomes for this vulnerable population.

Source of Funding: National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research via grant # R03DE033486.