Abstract
Purpose: Managing odontogenic infections accounts for a large proportion of oral and maxillofacial surgical service workloads and draws valuable public resources away from other health issues. This presentation will discuss findings of a Master's project investigating rates, characteristics, and financial costs of admissions to NZ public hospitals for treatment of preventable odontogenic disease over the last decade.
Methodology: National hospital admission data from the National Minimum Dataset for admissions deemed ‘potentially preventable’ using ICD-10 codes K02-09, K12, K13 were analysed. Rates were compared across time and among regions, focusing on differences by ethnicity and socioeconomic deprivation. Cost-weight unit prices were used to calculate costs attributable to each admission.
Results: 110,306 potentially preventable admissions occurred nationwide. Age-standardized rate ratios showed that Māori and Pacific peoples had 2.3 times higher rates of acute admissions than their non-Māori-non-Pacific counterparts. Admission rates were 3.5 times higher in the most deprived quintile compared to the least. Māori and Pacific peoples were 3.9 times more likely to be admitted with disease of greater severity and to require higher levels of care (e.g., ICU admission) than non-Māori-non-Pacific peoples. Total costs were estimated to be $268 million. Annual costs increased by 60% throughout the study period.
Conclusion: Rates of preventable hospitalization for odontogenic infection remain high, conferring substantial and increasing financial costs to the public health system. Profound disparities exist in the use of acute health care services, with people of Māori and Pacific ethnicity over-represented among those admitted.