Merchant Anwar T, Fallahi Afsaneh, Huda Arissa, Lohman Matthew
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, United States.
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States.
Front Oral Health. 2024 Oct 24;5:1400591. doi: 10.3389/froh.2024.1400591. eCollection 2024.
Household food insecurity, defined as inconsistent access to sufficient food in a household, affects 1 in 15 individuals over the age of 60 years in the US. In these individuals it is associated with numerous chronic conditions, medication underuse leading to poorly controlled conditions such as diabetes and hypertension, and poor oral health. However, the relationship between food insecurity and oral health is understudied. We therefore evaluated the associations between food insecurity and aspects of oral health in older US adults.
We prospectively evaluated a subset of participants of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) who responded to questions evaluating food insecurity in 2013 and a supplemental questionnaire regarding dental health and dental health services in 2018 ( = 472).
Approximately 1 in 5 people in our study reported being food insecure in the last year. Food insecurity was correlated with poor oral health-related quality of life scores and more tooth loss. Individuals who were food insecure reported worse self-rated oral health (OR = 2.67), greater odds of losing 8 or more teeth (OR = 2.35), and lower odds of receiving oral care (OR = 0.60) compared to their food secure peers.
Though individuals experiencing food insecurity were likely to have more unmet oral health needs than their peers, they were less likely to seek dental care. To improve the oral health status of this group, in addition to making oral health care more accessible, it may also be necessary to address the social and environmental factors preventing these people from seeking oral health care.
家庭粮食不安全被定义为家庭中无法持续获得足够的食物，在美国，每15名60岁以上的人中就有1人受其影响。在这些人中，它与多种慢性病、药物使用不足导致的糖尿病和高血压等病情控制不佳以及口腔健康状况差有关。然而，粮食不安全与口腔健康之间的关系研究较少。因此，我们评估了美国老年成年人粮食不安全与口腔健康各方面之间的关联。
我们前瞻性地评估了健康与退休研究（HRS）的一部分参与者，这些参与者在2013年回答了评估粮食不安全的问题，并在2018年回答了一份关于牙齿健康和牙科保健服务的补充问卷（n = 472）。
在我们的研究中，约五分之一的人报告在过去一年中粮食不安全。粮食不安全与口腔健康相关生活质量得分低和牙齿脱落较多相关。与粮食安全的同龄人相比，粮食不安全的个体报告的自评口腔健康状况较差（OR = 2.67），牙齿脱落8颗或更多的几率更高（OR = 2.35），接受口腔护理的几率更低（OR = 0.60）。
尽管经历粮食不安全的个体比同龄人更可能有未满足的口腔健康需求，但他们寻求牙科护理的可能性较小。为了改善这一群体的口腔健康状况，除了使口腔保健更容易获得外，还可能有必要解决阻碍这些人寻求口腔保健的社会和环境因素。
