Capabilities 

The Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health (ARCPOH) is a research centre within The University of Adelaide. ARCPOH has a national focus on dental statistics and oral epidemiologic and health services research. ARCPOH, through the AIHW Dental Statistics and Research Unit, monitors oral health among children and adults and explores its determinants. Access to dental care among children and adults, and the identification of inequalities in the frequency and pattern of use of services, or the services received, are studied through population and patient surveys. Time trends in the practice of dentistry, especially productivity and service-mix in private general practice, have been followed for 20 years. These data, along with registration data on dental providers, inform projection models on dentistry's capacity to supply services to the Australian population in an effective and efficient manner.

Research activities are conducted by full-time academic staff, research staff and research only higher degree students, supported by a range of competitive grants and non-competitive contract and consulting research.

ARCPOH also has an emphasis on informing the health and dental community about Australia's oral health and dental care and ways in which both can be improved. This includes the specialised office-based, distance education programs to stimulate and promote preventive dental services in dental practice in Australia and New Zealand conducted by the Colgate Oral Care supported Dental Practice and Education Research Unit (DPERU) within ARCPOH.

Surveys

With a staff of highly skilled researchers, ARCPOH can offer broad-based survey services for public and private sector studies, including the following:

• Survey design and development — Designing, developing, evaluating and implementing standard and custom survey instruments
• Data collection — Providing a full range of survey data collection services from one-on-one personal interviewing to leading-edge, computer-assisted methodologies

Statistical and quantitative analysis

ARCPOH's research statisticians and social scientists specialise in all facets of quantitative and statistical analysis, including sampling design and selection, environmental and clinical trials, statistical operations, and data analysis.

ARCPOH's expertise includes:

• Sampling and survey statistics — Consulting with clients on virtually every aspect of survey design and analysis
• Nonsampling errors — Measuring, modelling, and compensating for errors that result from data collection and data processing mistakes
• Biostatistics — Bridging the gap between advances in survey design and new research in biostatistics and clinical trials
• Behavioral and social science statistics — Applying statistical and psychometric techniques to social and behavioral science data
• Qualitative analysis — Using statistical models to link survey outcome variables to a set of predictor variables
• Meta-analysis — Synthesizing results of many types of research

Research Highlights

ARCPOH has had numerous achievements in supplying clients with valuable information. Some reports deriving from these include:

• Jones K, Roberts-Thomson K, Spencer J. Evaluation of the New South Wales Priority Oral Health Program. Adelaide: Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health, The University of Adelaide, 2002. (Report; 100 pp).
• Spencer AJ, Roberts-Thomson K, Luzzi L, Jones K. Relative Needs Index Study, South Australia and New South Wales. Adelaide: Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health, The University of Adelaide, 2002. (Report; 173 pp).
• DSRU. Evaluation of the impact of the introduction of copayments in public dental services - Report 4. Adelaide: AIHW, 2000. (Report; 57 pp).
• Luzzi L, Mathew R, Roberts-Thomson KF. Report on survey of satisfaction with School Dental Service, SA Dental Service 1999. Adelaide: AIHW, 2000. (Report; 36 pp).
• Luzzi L, Roberts-Thomson KF, Stewart JF. SADS Client Opinion Survey 1998. Adelaide: AIHW, 2000. (Report; 61 pp).
• DSRU. Review of water fluoridation: new evidence in the 1990s. Adelaide: AIHW, 1998. (Report; 152 pp).

Current consulting or contract research encompases the following projects:

• National Oral Health Survey East Timor, 2001 (AusAID)
• NSW Oral Health Labour Force Project (NSW Health, Oral Health Branch)
• Hospitals Contributors Fund (HCF) Dental Satisfaction Survey (Hospital Contributors Fund)
• Dental Insurance Database (NSW Health Funds Association)