Eshraqi Ali Maisam, Anwari Abdurrahman, Sadaat Sayed Esa, Taheri Mohammad Haris, Nemat Arash, Ghafari Elaha Sumaya, Noormal Ahmad Siyar
Department of Endodontics and Operative Dentistry, Kabul University of Medical Sciences "Abu Ali Ibn Sina", Kabul, Afghanistan.
Department of Social Statistics and Demography, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
Int J Dent. 2025 Sep 18;2025:7840384. doi: 10.1155/ijod/7840384. eCollection 2025.
Oral health is a critical aspect of overall well-being, with significant implications for physical health and quality of life. Despite the well-documented understanding of oral hygiene practices, there is limited research on oral health behaviors in Afghanistan, a country with unique sociocultural and economic challenges. This study aims to assess oral hygiene practices and identify associated risk factors among individuals in Kabul, Afghanistan, to provide insights into oral health behaviors in low-resource settings. Institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted from March 2021 to March 2022, involving 1948 participants from dental hospitals in Kabul. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses, including logistic regression, were employed to explore associations between variables and oral hygiene status. The study revealed that 59.7% of participants had poor oral hygiene. Key predictors of good oral hygiene included higher education levels, better wealth status, and younger age. Surprisingly, higher snack consumption was associated (AOR: 1.66, CI: 1.24-2.21) with better oral hygiene, contrary to existing literature. Continuous medication use also correlated with better oral hygiene practices with an AOR of 2.14. The findings highlight the complex interplay of demographic, educational, and behavioral factors in determining oral hygiene practices. Targeted interventions including health information provision regarding oral health for patients specifically for poor and uneducated individuals is recommended to enhance oral health outcomes in low-resource settings like Afghanistan.
口腔健康是整体健康的一个关键方面，对身体健康和生活质量有着重大影响。尽管对口腔卫生习惯已有充分的了解，但在阿富汗这个面临独特社会文化和经济挑战的国家，关于口腔健康行为的研究却很有限。本研究旨在评估阿富汗喀布尔个体的口腔卫生习惯，并确定相关风险因素，以便深入了解资源匮乏地区的口腔健康行为。2021年3月至2022年3月进行了一项基于机构的横断面研究，涉及喀布尔牙科医院的1948名参与者。采用描述性和推断性统计分析，包括逻辑回归，来探讨变量与口腔卫生状况之间的关联。研究表明，59.7%的参与者口腔卫生状况较差。良好口腔卫生的关键预测因素包括较高的教育水平、较好的财富状况和较年轻的年龄。令人惊讶的是，与现有文献相反，较高的零食摄入量与较好的口腔卫生状况相关（调整后比值比：1.66，置信区间：1.24 - 2.21）。持续用药也与较好的口腔卫生习惯相关，调整后比值比为2.14。研究结果凸显了人口统计学、教育和行为因素在决定口腔卫生习惯方面的复杂相互作用。建议采取有针对性的干预措施，包括为患者，特别是贫困和未受过教育的个体提供有关口腔健康的信息，以改善阿富汗等资源匮乏地区的口腔健康状况。
