Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health, Adelaide Dental School, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, 5005, Australia.
Menzies School of Health Research, Darwin, Australia.
BMC Public Health. 2021 Mar 1;21(1):424. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-10426-3.
Oral diseases negatively impact general health, affecting physical, psychological, social and emotional wellbeing, and ability to give back to community. The relationship between poor oral health, and general health and wellbeing among Indigenous Australians has not been documented. Working in partnership with seven Indigenous communities in South Australia, this study aimed to: 1) quantify self-rated oral health and health-related quality of life and; 2) investigate associations between poor self-rated oral health and general health among Indigenous Australian adults.
Data was collected from a large convenience sample of Indigenous Australians aged 18+ years from Feb 2018 to Jan 2019. General health-related quality of life, as the main outcome variable, was measured by calculating disutility scores with the five individual EQ-5D dimensions (EuroQol instrument: EQ-5D-5L), then classified as 'no problem' and 'at least one problem'. Self-reported oral health, as the main explanatory, was dichotomised into 'fair or poor' and 'excellent, very good or good'. Multivariable log-Poisson regression models were used to estimate associations between poor self-rated oral health and general health by calculating mean rate ratios (MRR) for disutility scores and prevalence ratios (PR) for individual dimensions, after adjusting for social-demographic characteristics and health-related behaviours.
Data were available for 1011 Indigenous South Australian adults. The prevalence of 'fair or poor' self-rated oral health was 33.5%. The mean utility score was 0.82 (95% CI: 0.81-0.83). Compared with those rating their oral health as 'excellent or very good or good', those who rated their oral health as 'fair or poor' had a mean disutility score that was 1.6 (95% CI: 1.1-2.2) times higher, and the prevalence of at least one problem ranged from 90 to 160% higher for individual EQ-5D dimensions.
Fair or poor self-rated oral health among Indigenous persons in South Australia was associated with poor general health as measured by EQ-5D-5L disutility. The relationship was especially evident with respect to mobility, self-care and anxiety/depression. The findings emphasise the importance of oral health as predictors of general health among Indigenous Australians.
口腔疾病对整体健康有负面影响，影响身体、心理、社会和情感健康以及回馈社区的能力。在澳大利亚原住民中，口腔健康状况不佳与整体健康和幸福感之间的关系尚未得到记录。本研究与南澳大利亚的七个原住民社区合作，旨在：1）量化自我评估的口腔健康和与健康相关的生活质量；2）调查澳大利亚原住民成年人中自我评估的口腔健康状况不佳与整体健康之间的关联。
从 2018 年 2 月至 2019 年 1 月，从年龄在 18 岁及以上的大量方便样本的澳大利亚原住民中收集数据。一般健康相关生活质量是主要的结果变量，通过计算五个个体 EQ-5D 维度的不便利得分（欧洲质量五维量表：EQ-5D-5L）来衡量，然后分为“无问题”和“至少有一个问题”。自我报告的口腔健康作为主要的解释变量，被分为“一般或差”和“优秀、很好或好”。多变量泊松回归模型用于通过计算不便利评分的平均比率比（MRR）和个体维度的患病率比（PR），在调整社会人口统计学特征和健康相关行为后，估计自我评估的口腔健康状况不佳与整体健康之间的关联。
数据可用于 1011 名南澳大利亚原住民成年人。“一般或差”自我评估口腔健康的患病率为 33.5%。平均效用评分 0.82（95%CI：0.81-0.83）。与那些将口腔健康评为“优秀或很好或好”的人相比，那些将口腔健康评为“一般或差”的人的平均不便利评分高 1.6 倍（95%CI：1.1-2.2），个体 EQ-5D 维度的至少一个问题的患病率高 90%至 160%。
在南澳大利亚的澳大利亚原住民中，自我评估的口腔健康状况一般或差与 EQ-5D-5L 不便利所衡量的整体健康状况不佳有关。这种关系在移动性、自我护理和焦虑/抑郁方面尤其明显。这些发现强调了口腔健康作为澳大利亚原住民整体健康预测因素的重要性。
