Santos Inês Caetano, De la Torre Canales Giancarlo, Lopes David G, Mendes José João, Polido Mário, Manso Ana Cristina, Canhão Helena
Egas Moniz Center for Interdisciplinary Research (CiiEM), Egas Moniz School of Health & Science, Almada, Portugal.
EpiDoC Unit, NOVA Medical School, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
BMC Public Health. 2024 Dec 18;24(1):3505. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-21049-9.
Although the oral health status has improved in developed countries in recent years, oral diseases are still unequally distributed across socio-economic groups. Research on the impact of socio-economic factors on oral health care among older adults in Europe, including Portugal, remains limited. The main aim of this study was to investigate the association between socio-economic factors and oral health indicators in Portuguese older adults.
This retrospective cross-sectional study analyzed data from 915 participants (aged 65 years and older) from the third wave (2015-2016) of the Epidemiology of Chronic Diseases Cohort Study (EpiDoC), a population-based study. Socio-economic and demographic information, general health-related characteristics and oral health data (prosthetic need, oral hygiene frequency, and last dental procedure) were collected by questionnaire. Multivariate logistic and multinomial regression models analyzed the associations between socio-economic factors and oral health indicators.
Participants with lower education level, perceived lower income and a fewer number of private sector appointments were more likely to have poor oral health (need for prosthetic treatment, less frequent oral hygiene, and tooth extraction as last dental procedure). Other factors found to be associated with oral health were sex, age, geographical area, smoking habits, and body mass index.
Socio-economic factors were associated with oral health in Portuguese older adults. These findings may contribute to future national public health strategies by expanding oral health services to ensure better access and coverage for at-risk groups.
尽管近年来发达国家的口腔健康状况有所改善，但口腔疾病在社会经济群体中的分布仍然不均衡。包括葡萄牙在内的欧洲，关于社会经济因素对老年人口腔保健影响的研究仍然有限。本研究的主要目的是调查葡萄牙老年人社会经济因素与口腔健康指标之间的关联。
这项回顾性横断面研究分析了来自慢性病队列研究（EpiDoC）第三波（2015 - 2016年）的915名参与者（年龄在65岁及以上）的数据，该研究是一项基于人群的研究。通过问卷调查收集社会经济和人口信息、一般健康相关特征以及口腔健康数据（修复需求、口腔卫生频率和最后一次牙科治疗）。多变量逻辑回归和多项回归模型分析了社会经济因素与口腔健康指标之间的关联。
教育水平较低、自认为收入较低以及较少接受私营部门预约的参与者更有可能口腔健康状况较差（需要修复治疗、口腔卫生频率较低以及最后一次牙科治疗为拔牙）。其他与口腔健康相关的因素包括性别、年龄、地理区域、吸烟习惯和体重指数。
社会经济因素与葡萄牙老年人的口腔健康相关。这些发现可能通过扩大口腔健康服务，以确保高危群体有更好的可及性和覆盖范围，从而为未来的国家公共卫生战略做出贡献。
