March 2016

Aim: To identify and prioritise areas of high need for dental services among the child population in metropolitan Western Australia. Design: All children hospitalised due to an oral-condition from 2000 to 2009, at metropolitan areas of Perth were included in the analysis of a 10-year data set. QGIS tools mapped the residential location of each child and socioeconomic data in relation to existing services (School Dental Service clinics). Results: The tables and maps provide a clear indication of specific geographical areas, where no services are located, but where high hospital-admission rates are occurring, especially among school-age children. The least-disadvantaged areas and areas of high rates of school-age child hospital-admissions were more likely to be within 2km of the clinics than not. More of highrisk-areas (socio-economically deprived areas combined with high oral-related hospital admissions rates), were found within 2km of the clinics than elsewhere. Conclusion: The application of GIS methodology has identified a community’s current service access needs, and assisted evidence based decision making for planning and implementing changes to increase access based on risk. Key words: Geographic Information System, hospital admissions, child oral health, Australia