Institute of Dentistry, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
Caries Res. 2011;45(4):400-7. doi: 10.1159/000330370. Epub 2011 Aug 12.
Evidence on the contribution of social support to oral health is scarce. We first explored the association of social support with caries experience and the relative roles of support from family, friends and a special person on caries experience in 15-16-year-old adolescents. We then explored whether social support at 11-12 years of age predicts caries increment in second permanent molars over 4 years and the relative roles of different sources of support on 4-year caries increment. Data from phases 1 and 3 of the Research with East London Adolescents Community Health Survey (RELACHS), a school-based prospective study of a representative sample of adolescents in East London, were used for cross-sectional (phase 3) and longitudinal analyses (phases 1 and 3). Data were collected by questionnaires including the same questions on demographic characteristics, socioeconomic measures and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support at phases 1 and 3. A questionnaire section on dental behaviours and an oral clinical examination were also included in phase 3. Social support was negatively related to both caries experience and increment independently of demographic characteristics, socioeconomic measures and dental behaviours. Furthermore, only support from a special person was significantly related to caries experience and increment in unadjusted and adjusted regression models. In conclusion, adolescents who perceived higher levels of social support had lower caries experience and increment. However, support from a special person was more relevant for these adolescents than support from family and peers.
关于社会支持对口腔健康的贡献的证据很少。我们首先探讨了社会支持与龋齿经历的关系，以及家庭、朋友和特殊人士的支持对 15-16 岁青少年龋齿经历的相对作用。然后，我们探讨了 11-12 岁的社会支持是否可以预测第二恒磨牙在 4 年内的龋齿进展，以及不同来源的支持对 4 年龋齿进展的相对作用。本研究的数据来自东伦敦青少年社区健康调查（RELACHS）的第 1 阶段和第 3 阶段，这是一项基于学校的东伦敦代表性青少年的前瞻性研究。采用横断面（第 3 阶段）和纵向分析（第 1 阶段和第 3 阶段）。数据通过问卷调查收集，包括第 1 阶段和第 3 阶段相同的人口特征、社会经济措施和多维感知社会支持量表的问题。第 3 阶段还包括关于口腔行为和口腔临床检查的问卷部分。社会支持与龋齿经历和增量独立于人口特征、社会经济措施和口腔行为呈负相关。此外，仅特殊人士的支持在未调整和调整后的回归模型中与龋齿经历和增量显著相关。综上所述，感知到更高水平社会支持的青少年的龋齿经历和增量较低。然而，与家庭和同龄人相比，特殊人士的支持对这些青少年更为重要。
