Department of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7450, USA.
Am J Public Health. 2013 Mar;103(3):480-7. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2012.300845. Epub 2013 Jan 17.
We examined the association between mother-perceived neighborhood social capital and oral health status and dental care use in US children.
We analyzed data for 67 388 children whose mothers participated in the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health. We measured mothers' perceived social capital with a 4-item social capital index (SCI) that captures reciprocal help, support, and trust in the neighborhood. Dependent variables were mother-perceived ratings of their child's oral health, unmet dental care needs, and lack of a previous-year preventive dental visit. We performed bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses for each outcome.
After we controlled for potential confounders, children of mothers with high (SCI = 5-7) and lower levels (SCI ≥ 8) of social capital were 15% (P = .05) and about 40% (P ≤ .02), respectively, more likely to forgo preventive dental visits than were children of mothers with the highest social capital (SCI = 4). Mothers with the lowest SCI were 79% more likely to report unmet dental care needs for their children than were mothers with highest SCI (P = .01).
A better understanding of social capital's effects on children's oral health risks may help address oral health disparities.
我们研究了美国儿童中母亲感知的邻里社会资本与口腔健康状况和口腔保健利用之间的关系。
我们分析了参加 2007 年全国儿童健康调查的 67388 名儿童的母亲的数据。我们使用 4 项社会资本指数（SCI）来衡量母亲感知的社会资本，该指数可以捕捉邻里之间的互惠帮助、支持和信任。因变量为母亲对其孩子口腔健康、未满足的口腔保健需求和缺乏上一年度预防性口腔检查的评价。我们对每个结果进行了双变量和多变量逻辑回归分析。
在控制了潜在的混杂因素后，社会资本水平较高（SCI=5-7）和较低（SCI≥8）的母亲的孩子分别有 15%（P=0.05）和大约 40%（P≤0.02）不太可能进行预防性牙科就诊，而社会资本水平最高（SCI=4）的母亲的孩子则不太可能进行预防性牙科就诊。社会资本最低的母亲报告其孩子未满足口腔保健需求的可能性比社会资本最高的母亲高 79%（P=0.01）。
更好地理解社会资本对儿童口腔健康风险的影响，可能有助于解决口腔健康差距问题。
