Yuen Hon K, Azuero Andres, London Steven
School of Health Professions, University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL, USA.
J Spinal Cord Med. 2011;34(4):423-31. doi: 10.1179/2045772311Y.0000000020.
To characterize adults with spinal cord injury (SCI) who seek oral health information online, and investigate whether seeking oral health information online is associated with oral health knowledge and behaviors.
An online oral health survey was posted on the South Carolina Spinal Cord Injury Association website. Respondents were 192 adult residents of the US ages 19-83 years who identified themselves as having SCI occurring at least 1 year before the survey date.
About 12% (n=23) of the respondents searched oral health information online in the past 12 months. Significant associations between the proportion of respondents who searched for oral health information online and socio-demographic and the proportion of respondents who engaged in various oral health behaviors were not detected. However, multivariable logistic regression indicated that respondents who searched oral health information online in the past 12 months have 3.4 times the odds of possessing adequate oral health knowledge compared to respondents who did not search oral health information online (adjusted odds ratio=3.41, 95% confidence interval = 1.35, 8.62, P=0.01).
Given the significant association between seeking oral health information online and adequate oral health knowledge, this study suggests that online oral health information may be a potential avenue for dental health professionals to supplement oral health education in adults with SCI.
描述在网上寻求口腔健康信息的脊髓损伤（SCI）成年人的特征，并调查在网上寻求口腔健康信息是否与口腔健康知识和行为相关。
在南卡罗来纳州脊髓损伤协会网站上发布了一项在线口腔健康调查。受访者为192名年龄在19 - 83岁的美国成年居民，他们自称在调查日期前至少1年发生了脊髓损伤。
在过去12个月中，约12%（n = 23）的受访者在网上搜索过口腔健康信息。未发现网上搜索口腔健康信息的受访者比例与社会人口统计学特征以及参与各种口腔健康行为的受访者比例之间存在显著关联。然而，多变量逻辑回归表明，在过去12个月中在网上搜索口腔健康信息的受访者拥有足够口腔健康知识的几率是未在网上搜索口腔健康信息的受访者的3.4倍（调整后的优势比 = 3.41，95%置信区间 = 1.35，8.62，P = 0.01）。
鉴于在网上寻求口腔健康信息与足够的口腔健康知识之间存在显著关联，本研究表明，在线口腔健康信息可能是牙科保健专业人员补充脊髓损伤成年人口腔健康教育的潜在途径。
