NMDA Journal Fall 2019

nmdental.org 15 continues on page 16  The implications of this research are important as it can be used in support of and comparison to already available secondary sources (accessible data collected from external sources) regarding the popu- lations that the UNM dental clinics serve. Most of UNM’s dental clin- ics’ patients are New Mexicans, many of whom can’t afford adequate dental care as they statistically live below the poverty line (less than $24,860 for a family of four).2 In 2017, approximately “19.7% of New Mexicans lived in poverty,”which is much higher than the US national average of 12.3%.”2 This dire trend causes New Mexico to be poorly ranked when compared to other states. In 2017, New Mexico ranked “51st in the country for hunger and food insecurity (17.9%),” “48th for higher education attainment (33.8%),” and “50th for unemployment (6.2%).”2 Each of these factors display that being “poor is expensive,” as they impose a financial and academic burden on a patient, reducing their ability to afford dental services, to attain dental insurance, and their own ability to adequately manage their individual oral health.3 Due to the relations found in the barriers faced by these vulnerable populations, further information can be found in the discussions sec- tion of this report. Materials & Methods Each patient interview consisted of a set number of questions, which the patient or their family-member was asked verbally. These ques- tions included asking the patient what barrier to oral health they be- lieved was the most important to address, who taught them their oral health behaviors (dentist, school, or parent), how well the staff com- municated with them, how favorable they were towards visiting the dentist, whether the patient smoked or if one of their family members does, why they came to the UNM clinic instead of a different dental facility, and if they had any questions for me as the interviewer. After asking these questions, other information about the patient, such as their gender, race/ethnicity, age-range, insurance-type, primary lan- guage, and the clinic which they were interviewed in, was added with the permission of the patient. Using this conversational format, many patients felt at ease with the casual yet professional environment (unless the patient requested the interview be conducted in a different area). In some cases, a patient was talkative and interested in stating more information about them- selves, which prompted other questions to be asked. Most of these answers were recorded in the notes section of the data collection spreadsheet, as they helped to identify the barriers which vulnerable populations faced. These interviews were conducted with patients suggested by either the capstone preceptor or by other staff at the clinics. Some staff-members were also interviewed to get a better insight about the populations the UNM dental clinics serve, but they were not the primary target of this research. Despite not being an employee in the UNM dental clinics, the HIPAA privacy laws were strictly adhered to.⁴ All of the patients were in- formed about the nature of the interview, introduced to the inter- viewer (by either a staff-member or the interviewer himself), given information as to what the data collected would be used for, and asked if they were willing to participate in an interview. Any collected information was kept confidential, initially being kept inside a note- book, which was then secured on a password-protected computer. To keep anonymity in the patients’ information, no names or exact ages were recorded, and the patients were allowed to refuse to answer any of the questions asked if they chose to do so.⁴ After the completion of the PH 475 capstone course, data about the patients will be dealt with using HIPAA protocols.⁴ Results From January 17 to April 5, a total of seventy-four interviews were conducted at the UNM dental clinics. Thirty-five of these interviews (17 females and 18 males) were conducted in the UNM Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) and the other 39 (14 females and 25 males) were conducted in the UNM Dental Residency Clinic (DRC). The largest age category of interviewed patients in the ASC were 50–59 year-olds, fol- lowed by patients between the ages of 0–9 years, and patients aged 20–29 years (Figure 2). However, in the DRC the largest age category of the interviewed patients were those between 20–29 years old, fol- lowed by a tie between patients aged 30–39 years old and 50–59 years old (Figure 2). It is important to note that for patients ages 9 and under, the parent or guardian was interviewed instead, as younger children may not have been able to answer the questions. In terms of geographical area, over 82.1% of these patients lived in an urban area while the rest (17.9%) were from rural areas. When asked, “Which barrier to adequate dental care was the most important to address,” an overwhelming majority of the patients in both the DRC (61.5%) and the ASC (45.7%) stated that financial costs Ambulatory Surgical Center Dental Residency Clinic Age Range Number of Interviewed Patients in Age Range 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 7 2 6 3 4 9 3 1 2 9 6 5 6 5 3 2 1 0-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70-79 80-89 90-99 (Figure 2) UNM Dental Clinics Interviewees by Age Distribution, 2019 Age Range by UNM Dental Clinic Interviewed In Ambulatory Surgical Center Dental Residency Clinic 15.4% 17.1% 28.6% 45.7% 17.9% 61.5% Financial Cost Education Fear Transportation Indifference (Figure 3) What Barrier to Adequate Dental Care Do UNM Patients Consider the Most Important to Address? 2.6% 2.6% 5.7% 2.9% Barriers to Adequate Oral Healthcare in the UNMDental Clinics' Patient Populations