Investigation of some factors affecting the preferences of a university administrative staff in Ankara for oral and dental health services by discrete choice experiment

In this study, it was aimed to determine some factors affecting the preferences of administrative staff working at Hacettepe University Beytepe Campus for oral and dental health services, to calculate the willingness-to-pay and to determine the importance given to these factors by using the Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) method. For this purpose, data were collected from 375 administrative staff on sociodemographic characteristics, oral and dental health characteristics, and preferences for oral and dental health services formed by the DCE method in the form of a questionnaire under observation in April-May 2024. DCE is a method based on the identification of a good or service by its attributes and the assumption that the extent to which an individual values a product or service depends on the nature and level of these attributes. In this study, 53.48% of the participants were women; the median age was 44 years, with the 1st and 3rd quartile values 38 and 52, respectively. The median equivalised disposable income of the participants is 30,769.23 TL and the 1st and 3rd quarter values are 22,761.90 TL and 40,000.00 TL, respectively. Among the participants, 53.76% brush their teeth at least twice a day, 59.01% change their toothbrush every 3 months or more frequently, 21.62% use mouthwash every 2-3 days or more frequently, and 46.76% use at least one of dental floss/interface brush. When the conditional logistic regression analysis of the levels of the characteristics of oral and dental health services was performed and the marginal willingness-to-pay (MWTP) was analysed, the most important characteristic of the participants was the provision of services requiring expertise [MWTP (95% CI) 398.16 TL (194.59 - 1972.44 TL)], followed by the cleanliness of the clinic, the relevance of the physician, the time to start the treatment, the clarity of the physician's explanation and the share of participation. When age, gender, equivalised disposable income, centre preference and alcohol use variables were added to the model, it was found that the relevance of the physician dropped two places in this order of importance. It is important for decision-makers to know the importance of oral and dental health in the community to increase the participation of the community in health services and to improve the quality of the services provided. This information can also be considered as a variable in the allocation of resources and resources can be allocated more accurately; however, it should be taken into consideration that the information obtained from cost-benefit analysis is not sufficient alone in taking decision.