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Systematic review of Latin American national oral health surveys in adults
Author(s) -
Duran Doris,
Monsalves Maria Jose,
Aubert Josefina,
Zarate Victor,
Espinoza Iris
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
community dentistry and oral epidemiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.061
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1600-0528
pISSN - 0301-5661
DOI - 10.1111/cdoe.12379
Subject(s) - latin americans , medicine , grey literature , public health , government (linguistics) , oral health , environmental health , family medicine , medline , nursing , political science , linguistics , philosophy , law
Abstract Background Oral diseases represent a main public health problem worldwide. There is scarce information about oral health indicators in adults in middle‐income countries in Latin America and Africa. Objectives To identify and describe national health surveys with national representative samples that included oral health assessment for adults in Latin America. Methods A systematic review was conducted in scientific and regional bibliographic databases (PubMed, Sci ELO , Wos and Embase); this was complemented with searchings in grey literature (Google Scholar, Open Grey and government health organization websites), from August 2016 to May 2017 (from 2000 to date). Studies conducted, supervised or funded by Ministries of Health or National Health Institutes were included. Data extracted included country, year, methods, interview and dental examination. Two researchers independently performed search and data extraction. Results were discussed as a group. Results Only 5 countries in Latin America have developed national health surveys evaluating the dental status in adults, with overall national representative samples during 2000‐2015: Brazil, Colombia, Panama, Chile and Uruguay. Main differences were observed in the type of dental indicators selected, measure of dental services access and the professional who performed the dental examination. While some dental surveys were specifically designed as oral health surveys (Brazil, Colombia, Panama and Uruguay) and the examination was performed by dentists, other surveys represent a module within a general health survey (Chile) and the examination was performed by nurses. Conclusions There are a small number of Latin American countries that report research about dental status with national representation samples. Most of these studies have been conducted as national oral health surveys, and fieldwork was carried out by dentists. The development of oral health research in this part of the world should be promoted as these surveys provide relevant information to monitor oral health and evaluate the effectiveness of health programmes.