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The Practice of Dentistry by Australian- and Overseas-Trained Dentists in Australia: Discriminant Analysis of key Predictors

INTRODUCTION: Overseas-trained dentists comprise at least one-fourth of the overall Australian dental workforce. This study examined characteristics and practice differences between Australian- and overseas-trained dentists to identify key predictors that best differentiate their dentistry practices...

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Autores principales: Balasubramanian, Madhan, John Spencer, A., Sohn, Woosung, Brennan, David S.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Elsevier 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9275319/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33610308
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.identj.2021.01.002
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author Balasubramanian, Madhan
John Spencer, A.
Sohn, Woosung
Brennan, David S.
author_facet Balasubramanian, Madhan
John Spencer, A.
Sohn, Woosung
Brennan, David S.
author_sort Balasubramanian, Madhan
collection PubMed
description INTRODUCTION: Overseas-trained dentists comprise at least one-fourth of the overall Australian dental workforce. This study examined characteristics and practice differences between Australian- and overseas-trained dentists to identify key predictors that best differentiate their dentistry practices. METHODS: Data for the study were from the Longitudinal Study of Dentist Practice Activity (LSDPA), a survey of a nationally representative random sample of dentists in Australia commencing in 1983-1984 and repeated every 5 years. Dentists were surveyed on a wide range of items including participant characteristics, practice patterns, practice inputs, direct demand, and productivity measures. Data were weighted to provide national estimates by age, sex, and practice type. Discriminant function analysis was used to examine the predictor variables that best distinguished between the two groups. Analysis was limited to the most recent wave of the study. RESULTS: A total of 1148 dentists (response rate = 67%) responded to the survey in 2009-2010; 648 cases were available for the discriminant analysis. The discriminant functions for the full sample and each of the 3 age groups (<35 years; 35-50 years; and 50+ years) were found effective to separate dentists into 2 groups (Australian and overseas), with the proportion of cases correctly classified being highest for the oldest age group (89.7% for 50+ years). Female gender, type of practice (working in public sector), and working in disadvantaged areas were significant predictors, with more prominence in the 35- to 50-year age group. Practice inputs, demand, and productivity measures offered less discriminative capacity between the dentists. CONCLUSION: Overseas-trained dentists contribute towards providing dental care to underserved populations, the public sector, and in rural and remote locations. This study provided basis to argue that policies to encourage overseas-trained dentists to contribute towards areas of need locations have been successful, and key productivity measures were also similar to Australian-trained dentists.
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spelling pubmed-92753192022-08-02 The Practice of Dentistry by Australian- and Overseas-Trained Dentists in Australia: Discriminant Analysis of key Predictors Balasubramanian, Madhan John Spencer, A. Sohn, Woosung Brennan, David S. Int Dent J Scientific Research Report INTRODUCTION: Overseas-trained dentists comprise at least one-fourth of the overall Australian dental workforce. This study examined characteristics and practice differences between Australian- and overseas-trained dentists to identify key predictors that best differentiate their dentistry practices. METHODS: Data for the study were from the Longitudinal Study of Dentist Practice Activity (LSDPA), a survey of a nationally representative random sample of dentists in Australia commencing in 1983-1984 and repeated every 5 years. Dentists were surveyed on a wide range of items including participant characteristics, practice patterns, practice inputs, direct demand, and productivity measures. Data were weighted to provide national estimates by age, sex, and practice type. Discriminant function analysis was used to examine the predictor variables that best distinguished between the two groups. Analysis was limited to the most recent wave of the study. RESULTS: A total of 1148 dentists (response rate = 67%) responded to the survey in 2009-2010; 648 cases were available for the discriminant analysis. The discriminant functions for the full sample and each of the 3 age groups (<35 years; 35-50 years; and 50+ years) were found effective to separate dentists into 2 groups (Australian and overseas), with the proportion of cases correctly classified being highest for the oldest age group (89.7% for 50+ years). Female gender, type of practice (working in public sector), and working in disadvantaged areas were significant predictors, with more prominence in the 35- to 50-year age group. Practice inputs, demand, and productivity measures offered less discriminative capacity between the dentists. CONCLUSION: Overseas-trained dentists contribute towards providing dental care to underserved populations, the public sector, and in rural and remote locations. This study provided basis to argue that policies to encourage overseas-trained dentists to contribute towards areas of need locations have been successful, and key productivity measures were also similar to Australian-trained dentists. Elsevier 2021-02-18 /pmc/articles/PMC9275319/ /pubmed/33610308 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.identj.2021.01.002 Text en © 2021 The Authors https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
spellingShingle Scientific Research Report
Balasubramanian, Madhan
John Spencer, A.
Sohn, Woosung
Brennan, David S.
The Practice of Dentistry by Australian- and Overseas-Trained Dentists in Australia: Discriminant Analysis of key Predictors
title The Practice of Dentistry by Australian- and Overseas-Trained Dentists in Australia: Discriminant Analysis of key Predictors
title_full The Practice of Dentistry by Australian- and Overseas-Trained Dentists in Australia: Discriminant Analysis of key Predictors
title_fullStr The Practice of Dentistry by Australian- and Overseas-Trained Dentists in Australia: Discriminant Analysis of key Predictors
title_full_unstemmed The Practice of Dentistry by Australian- and Overseas-Trained Dentists in Australia: Discriminant Analysis of key Predictors
title_short The Practice of Dentistry by Australian- and Overseas-Trained Dentists in Australia: Discriminant Analysis of key Predictors
title_sort practice of dentistry by australian- and overseas-trained dentists in australia: discriminant analysis of key predictors
topic Scientific Research Report
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9275319/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33610308
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.identj.2021.01.002
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