Racial/ethnic variations in associations between socioeconomic factors and tooth loss.
Community Dent Oral Epidemiol
; 37(3): 267-75, 2009 Jun.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-19302573
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
To compare the associations between socioeconomic factors and tooth loss among White, Black, and Mexican-American people.METHODS:
Analyses were conducted on 16,821 adults, using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey-III. Age- and multivariate-adjusted negative binomial regressions were used to explore the relation of socioeconomic factors, region of residence, gender, and foreign birth with the number of missing teeth. Effect modification by race/ethnicity was assessed by the inclusion of interaction terms.RESULTS:
In multivariate-adjusted analyses, non-Hispanic White people with 9-12 years of education exhibited 71% higher mean number of missing teeth than those with >12 years of education [incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 1.71, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.52-1.92]. Education was unrelated to the number of teeth among non-Hispanic Black people (IRR = 1.16; 95% CI 1.00-1.35) or Mexican-Americans (IRR = 1.10, 95% CI 0.93-1.31). The poorest White people exhibited 39% more missing teeth, on average, than the most affluent White people, but no association between poverty and number of teeth was observed among Black or Mexican-American people.CONCLUSIONS:
The associations between socioeconomic factors and tooth loss vary across race/ethnicity. This suggests that the health benefits associated with high socioeconomic status are not equally shared across racial/ethnic groups.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Black or African American
/
Tooth Loss
/
Mexican Americans
/
White People
Type of study:
Risk_factors_studies
Aspects:
Determinantes_sociais_saude
Limits:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
America do norte
Language:
En
Journal:
Community Dent Oral Epidemiol
Year:
2009
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
United States