Luo Huabin, Wu Bei, Qi Xiang, Moss Mark E
Department of Public Health, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, North Carolina, USA.
Rory Meyers College of Nursing, New York University, New York City, New York, USA.
J Public Health Dent. 2025 May 30. doi: 10.1111/jphd.12679.
This study examined oral health trends of older immigrants in the US from 1999 to 2018 and disparities between immigrants and non-immigrants across different races/ethnicities.
Data were from the 1999-2018 National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES). Outcome variables were self-reported poor oral health and significant tooth loss (i.e., < 20 permanent teeth). Participants were categorized into three groups as US natives, naturalized citizens, or noncitizen residents. The analytical sample comprised 13,424 older adults (ages 60+), including 10,087 US natives, 2280 naturalized citizens, and 1057 noncitizen residents. We assessed the trends in poor oral health and significant tooth loss across the three groups and conducted analyses stratified by race/ethnicity to examine within-group disparities.
From 1999 to 2018, noncitizen residents consistently showed higher rates of poor oral health and significant tooth loss compared to US natives and naturalized citizens. Multiple logistic regression model results showed that naturalized citizens were less likely (AOR = 0.79, p = 0.03) to report poor oral health. Stratified analyses by racial/ethnic groups showed that among Blacks, naturalized citizens were less likely to report poor oral health (AOR = 0.59, p = 0.02) than Blacks who were born in the US.
While overall oral health improved among older immigrants from 1999 to 2018, oral health disparities persisted, especially between noncitizen residents and US natives. There were significant differences in oral health between Black immigrants and their US-born counterparts. Future research is needed to corroborate these findings and monitor the trend of oral health disparities.
本研究调查了1999年至2018年美国老年移民的口腔健康趋势，以及不同种族/族裔的移民与非移民之间的差异。
数据来自1999 - 2018年国家健康与营养检查调查（NHANES）。结果变量为自我报告的口腔健康状况差和严重牙齿缺失（即恒牙少于20颗）。参与者分为三组：美国本土居民、入籍公民或非公民居民。分析样本包括13424名老年人（60岁及以上），其中10087名美国本土居民、2280名入籍公民和1057名非公民居民。我们评估了三组人群口腔健康状况差和严重牙齿缺失的趋势，并按种族/族裔进行分层分析，以研究组内差异。
1999年至2018年期间，与美国本土居民和入籍公民相比，非公民居民的口腔健康状况差和严重牙齿缺失率一直较高。多因素逻辑回归模型结果显示，入籍公民报告口腔健康状况差的可能性较小（比值比[AOR]=0.79，p=0.03）。按种族/族裔分组的分层分析显示，在黑人中，入籍公民报告口腔健康状况差的可能性（AOR=0.59，p=0.02）低于在美国出生的黑人。
虽然1999年至2018年期间老年移民的总体口腔健康有所改善，但口腔健康差异依然存在，尤其是非公民居民与美国本土居民之间。黑人移民与其在美国出生的同龄人在口腔健康方面存在显著差异。需要进一步的研究来证实这些发现，并监测口腔健康差异的趋势。
