Chronic Disease - Other topics
Economics of dental care in Australia
Obesity
Economics of dental care in Australia
The primary aim of our research is to examine changing patterns of access to dental services in Australia and to examine ways of improving access. In recent years there have been concerns about a shortage of dentists, high out of pocket cost of private dental care and the long waiting periods for free public dental care (averaging 27 months). All these factors have contributed to a substantial proportion of people not receiving regular dental check-ups or treatment in Australia.
Our current focus is to measure whether there have been changes in inequalities of access to dental services over time using data from various Australian National Health services. We also intend to examine the impact of policies designed to improve access including the 30% private insurance rebate on dental care and the recently announced vouchers for teenage dental care.
Researchers involved
- Philip Clarke
- Edmund Fitzgerald
Obesity
Present research interests among staff at the Sydney School of Public Health include examination of socio-economic inequalities in risk factors for obesity such as exercise habits and food choices and the way these risk factors have changed over time and by age and gender.
Another research project has quantified how the reporting error associated with self reported height and weight varies by. Estimates of BMI are often derived from self reported height and weight data obtained from large population surveys. These data will underestimate the true level of overweight and obesity on a population. Correction equations based on age, gender and other population characteristics have been derived to correct for reporting error in self reported height and weight, which may be used to estimate the true levels of obesity and overweight when height and weight have not been specifically measured.
Past research has involved estimation of the impact of overweight and obesity on quality adjusted life expectancy.
Researchers involved
Selected Publications
Kortt, M.A and Clarke, P.C. Estimating utility values for health states of overweight and obese individuals using the SF-36. Qual Life Res 2005;14(10):2177-85. (Impact factor: 2.04).