Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, 1-19 Torrington Place, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
J Epidemiol Community Health. 2009 Jul;63(7):516-20. doi: 10.1136/jech.2008.082313. Epub 2009 Mar 1.
Ethnic differences exist in oral health. However, the causes of the differences have not been adequately addressed. The objective of this study is to examine the effect of socioeconomic position on ethnic differences in oral health.
Data were from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted in the USA (1988-94). The effects of income and education on ethnic differences in perceived oral health, gingival bleeding, periodontitis and tooth loss were analysed using a series of regression models.
The probabilities of poorer oral health were higher among African-American, Mexican-Americans and other ethnic groups than in White Americans. Adjusting for income and education resulted in a reduction in the ORs for having poorer perceived oral health (44%), tooth loss (29%), gingival bleeding (61%) and periodontitis (30%) among African-Americans than White Americans. Similar reductions in risk were observed among Mexican-Americans and other ethnic groups.
The results indicate that education and income play an important role in ethnic differences in oral health. Despite the major impact of socioeconomic position, the results imply that there are causes additional to socioeconomic position for ethnic differences in oral health.
口腔健康存在种族差异。然而，这些差异的原因尚未得到充分解决。本研究旨在探讨社会经济地位对口腔健康种族差异的影响。
数据来自美国于 1988-1994 年进行的第三次国家健康和营养调查。使用一系列回归模型分析了收入和教育对口腔健康感知、牙龈出血、牙周炎和牙齿缺失的种族差异的影响。
与白种美国人相比，非裔美国人、墨西哥裔美国人和其他种族群体的口腔健康较差的概率更高。调整收入和教育后，非裔美国人的口腔健康感知较差（44%）、牙齿缺失（29%）、牙龈出血（61%）和牙周炎（30%）的 OR 降低。在墨西哥裔美国人和其他种族群体中也观察到类似的风险降低。
结果表明，教育和收入在口腔健康的种族差异中起着重要作用。尽管社会经济地位有重大影响，但结果表明，口腔健康的种族差异除了社会经济地位之外还有其他原因。
