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Clinical, social and psychosocial factors associated with self‐rated oral health in Brazilian adolescents
Author(s) -
Pattussi Marcos P.,
Olinto Maria Teresa Anselmo,
Hardy Rebecca,
Sheiham Aubrey
Publication year - 2007
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/j.1600-0528.2006.00339.x
Subject(s) - psychosocial , medicine , oral health , poisson regression , confidence interval , cluster (spacecraft) , cross sectional study , social class , cluster sampling , demography , clinical psychology , family medicine , environmental health , psychiatry , population , pathology , sociology , computer science , political science , law , programming language
– Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate the main social, psychosocial and clinical factors associated with poor self‐rated oral health in adolescents. Methods: A cross‐sectional survey was carried out in two cities of the Distrito Federal, Brazil. Data were collected by clinical examinations and by self‐administered questionnaires from 1302 adolescents aged 14‐ 15 years in 39 schools. Data analysis was carried out using a Poisson regression model taking into account the cluster sample. Results: Adjusting for social, psychosocial and clinical factors, results showed that poor self‐rated oral health was significantly associated ( P < 0.001) with sex (males) [prevalence ratio (PR) = 0.8, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.7–0.9]; low social class (PR =1.4, 95% CI: 1.2–1.6); poor self‐rated general health (PR = 2.6, 95% CI: 2.3–3.1); mouth appearance (PR = 1.9, 95% CI: 1.6–2.2) and with presence of untreated dental decay (PR = 1.4, 95% CI: 1.3–1.6). Conclusions: The single question on self‐rated oral health appears to be a simple and easy way to collect dental health information in adolescents. Assessment and understanding of self‐rated oral health should take into account social, psychosocial and oral factors.