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What Massachusetts Residents Know about Fluoridation *
Author(s) -
Weintraub Jane A.,
Connolly Gregory N.,
Lambert Craig A.,
Douglass Chester W.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
journal of public health dentistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.64
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1752-7325
pISSN - 0022-4006
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-7325.1985.tb01157.x
Subject(s) - water fluoridation , socioeconomic status , telephone survey , public health , environmental health , medicine , public opinion , political science , population , business , nursing , law , fluoride , inorganic chemistry , chemistry , marketing , politics
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health conducted a comprehensive, statewide telephone health interview survey during 1980. Adult members of 1,091 households were interviewed. The purpose of this paper is to report the attitudes and knowledge of the Massachusetts residents surveyed regarding fluoridation, as well as the relation of their attitudes with demographic and socioeconomic variables, dental and other health behaviors, and outcome of fluoridation referenda. The majority, 60 percent, were in favor of community water fluoridation. As expected, groups that were most likely to favor fluoridation were parents, those who were better educated, and those with higher incomes. About three‐fourths of those surveyed were correctly aware of the purpose of fluoridation. Public opinion about fluoridation, as measured by this survey, did not correspond with the outcome of fluoridation referenda held in 14 Massachusetts communities between 1980 and 1983, which showed that 61 percent of the voters were not in favor of fluoridation.