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Oral health status of older adults in Arizona: results from the Arizona Elder Study
Author(s) -
Berg Rob,
Berkey Douglas,
Tang Julie M.W.,
Baine Connie,
Altman Donald S.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
special care in dentistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.328
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1754-4505
pISSN - 0275-1879
DOI - 10.1111/j.1754-4505.2000.tb01155.x
Subject(s) - medicine , gerontology , oral health , family medicine
This study was undertaken to compare oral health status of independent community‐dwelling elders with those using long‐term‐care services. Clinical examinations and self‐reported socio‐demographlc data were collected for 2927 older adults living Independently, using home‐care services, or living In nursing facilities. Mean age of dentate participants (n = 2021) was 72.2 years (range, 50–103 years); mean number of teeth, 18.16; mean DFS, 28.86; and mean RCI, 15.23. In multi‐variate analyses, receiving home‐care services or living in a nursing facility was significantly predictive of poorer oral health status with respect to both coronal and root carles. This was also true for ethnic groups other than non‐Hispanic‐white. We concluded that, In a large, multi‐ethnic sample, direct comparisons highlight significant unmet treatment need among users of long‐term‐care services, compared with independent older adults living in the same communities.