School of Management, Shanxi Medical University, 56 Xinjian South Road, Taiyuan 030001, China.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jan 10;20(2):1283. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20021283.
Oral health is an important part of older adults' general health. The study examined the association between social participation (formal and informal) and remaining teeth and the urban-rural difference based on a national survey of older adults in China. The data of older adults were extracted from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) and analyzed. A total of 11,948 respondents were ultimately involved, including 6836 urban respondents and 5112 rural respondents. Informal social participation and formal social participation were used to assess social participation. The number of remaining natural teeth was measured. Social participation was significantly associated with remaining teeth among older adults, after adjusting for confounders, a one-level increase in the informal social participation was associated with a decrease in natural teeth by 0.152 (95% CI = -0.274; -0.030) and a one-level increase in the formal social participation was associated with a decrease in natural teeth by 0.370 (95% CI = -0.585; -0.156). In addition, the association between social participation (formal and informal) and remaining teeth was observed among urban older adults, but not rural older adults. A high level of social participation may effectively decrease the risk of oral-health problems for the Chinese older adults. The findings suggest recommendations for an older adults-targeted policy and the practice of oral-health promotion. However, the urban-rural difference should be taken into full consideration in social-participation-driven oral-health promotion interventions.
口腔健康是老年人整体健康的重要组成部分。本研究基于中国老年人的全国性调查，考察了社会参与（正式和非正式）与剩余牙齿之间的关联以及城乡差异。老年人的数据从中国长寿纵向研究（CLHLS）中提取并进行了分析。最终共纳入 11948 名受访者，其中城市受访者 6836 名，农村受访者 5112 名。非正式社会参与和正式社会参与被用于评估社会参与度。剩余自然牙齿的数量被测量。在调整了混杂因素后，社会参与与老年人的剩余牙齿显著相关，非正式社会参与每增加一级，自然牙齿减少 0.152（95%置信区间=-0.274；-0.030），正式社会参与每增加一级，自然牙齿减少 0.370（95%置信区间=-0.585；-0.156）。此外，在城市老年人中观察到社会参与（正式和非正式）与剩余牙齿之间存在关联，但在农村老年人中不存在。高水平的社会参与可能会有效降低中国老年人口腔健康问题的风险。这些发现为以老年人为目标的政策和口腔健康促进实践提供了建议。然而，在以社会参与为导向的口腔健康促进干预措施中，应充分考虑城乡差异。
