Seda Mariela Sosa, Rios Naydi Perez, Tumanyan Sona Rivas, Negron Damaris Molina, Lopez Del Valle Lydia M
Escuela de Medicina Dental Universidad de Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico.
Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Research Design Core, the Hispanic Alliance for Clinical and Translational Research (Alliance), San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Rev Odontopediatr Latinoam. 2025 Mar 12;15. doi: 10.47990/njr9j726. Epub 2025 May 13.
This study aimed to determine the oral health and the associated health disparities of pediatric patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
This non-matched, case-control study recruited 22 subjects diagnosed with ASD (cases) and 27 without ASD (controls) aged 5-18 years. Two calibrated dentists performed dental exams for caries and gingivitis on all subjects. Parents/caregivers completed sociodemographics and social determinants oral health questionnaires. As appropriate, between-group comparisons were performed using chi-square, Fisher's exact test, t-test, and Mann-Whitney test. Associations between ASD and oral health indices were determined using logistic, Poisson, and linear regression models.
Statistically significant differences were found for not easy finding dental services for ASD patients (=0.014) and behavioral problems during dental visits (=0.012). Children with ASD had significantly lower odds of caries (DMFT+dft>0) compared to children without ASD (OR=0.121; 95% CI: 0.023; 0.636). Age- and sex-adjusted models showed a significantly lower gingival index among those with ASD.
ASD patients had better oral health indices than the control subjects. The barriers to treatment for ASD patients were lack of access to dental care and living in a rural area.
本研究旨在确定自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）患儿的口腔健康状况及其相关的健康差异。
这项非匹配的病例对照研究招募了22名年龄在5至18岁之间被诊断为ASD的受试者（病例组）和27名无ASD的受试者（对照组）。两名经过校准的牙医对所有受试者进行了龋齿和牙龈炎的牙科检查。父母/照顾者完成了社会人口统计学和社会决定因素口腔健康问卷。适当时，使用卡方检验、费舍尔精确检验、t检验和曼-惠特尼检验进行组间比较。使用逻辑回归、泊松回归和线性回归模型确定ASD与口腔健康指数之间的关联。
在为ASD患者寻找牙科服务困难（P=0.014）和牙科就诊期间的行为问题（P=0.012）方面发现了具有统计学意义的差异。与无ASD的儿童相比，患有ASD的儿童患龋齿（DMFT+dft>0）的几率显著更低（OR=0.121；95%CI：0.023；0.636）。年龄和性别调整模型显示，ASD患者的牙龈指数显著更低。
ASD患者的口腔健康指数优于对照组。ASD患者的治疗障碍是难以获得牙科护理以及居住在农村地区。
