The Moderating Effect of Oral Health Literacy on the Relationship Between Socioeconomic Conditions and Untreated Dental Caries in Pregnant Women.

IF 2.9 2区医学 Q1 DENTISTRY, ORAL SURGERY & MEDICINE

Caries Research Pub Date : 2025-05-21 DOI:10.1159/000546293

Gabriela de Araujo, Mateus Zilch Scheuermann, Jessica Klöckner Knorst, Thiago Machado Ardenghi, Bruno Emmanuelli

{"title":"The Moderating Effect of Oral Health Literacy on the Relationship Between Socioeconomic Conditions and Untreated Dental Caries in Pregnant Women.","authors":"Gabriela de Araujo, Mateus Zilch Scheuermann, Jessica Klöckner Knorst, Thiago Machado Ardenghi, Bruno Emmanuelli","doi":"10.1159/000546293","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Introduction: Dental caries is highly prevalent among pregnant women, and investigating potential modifying factors is particularly relevant for this population. This study aimed to evaluate the moderating effect of oral health literacy (OHL) on the relationship between socioeconomic conditions and dental caries in pregnant women.Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed with pregnant women attending the public health service in Santa Maria, a municipality in Southern Brazil. The Brazilian Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Dentistry (BREALD-30) instrument was used to evaluate OHL. The presence of dental caries was measured using the Decayed, Missing, or Filled Teeth (DMFT) index. Socioeconomic conditions were assessed based on family income and education level. The moderating effect of OHL on the relationship between income, education, and caries (D component of DMFT) was tested using multilevel Poisson regression analyses. The results are presented as Prevalence Ratio (PR).Results: A total of 520 pregnant women were examined (response rate of 93%). Pregnant women with low educational level and low OHL exhibited a 69% higher prevalence of dental caries compared to those with higher education and high OHL. Similarly, among those with high income, pregnant with low OHL had a 57% higher prevalence of untreated dental caries than their counterparts with both high income and high OHL.Conclusion: Our findings indicate that low OHL modifies the association between socioeconomic conditions and dental caries among pregnant women. Low OHL appears to function as an aggravating factor, potentially exacerbating oral health outcomes in this population.","PeriodicalId":9620,"journal":{"name":"Caries Research","volume":" ","pages":"1-14"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Caries Research","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1159/000546293","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"DENTISTRY, ORAL SURGERY & MEDICINE","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Introduction: Dental caries is highly prevalent among pregnant women, and investigating potential modifying factors is particularly relevant for this population. This study aimed to evaluate the moderating effect of oral health literacy (OHL) on the relationship between socioeconomic conditions and dental caries in pregnant women.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed with pregnant women attending the public health service in Santa Maria, a municipality in Southern Brazil. The Brazilian Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Dentistry (BREALD-30) instrument was used to evaluate OHL. The presence of dental caries was measured using the Decayed, Missing, or Filled Teeth (DMFT) index. Socioeconomic conditions were assessed based on family income and education level. The moderating effect of OHL on the relationship between income, education, and caries (D component of DMFT) was tested using multilevel Poisson regression analyses. The results are presented as Prevalence Ratio (PR).

Results: A total of 520 pregnant women were examined (response rate of 93%). Pregnant women with low educational level and low OHL exhibited a 69% higher prevalence of dental caries compared to those with higher education and high OHL. Similarly, among those with high income, pregnant with low OHL had a 57% higher prevalence of untreated dental caries than their counterparts with both high income and high OHL.

Conclusion: Our findings indicate that low OHL modifies the association between socioeconomic conditions and dental caries among pregnant women. Low OHL appears to function as an aggravating factor, potentially exacerbating oral health outcomes in this population.

查看原文本刊更多论文

口腔健康素养对孕妇社会经济条件与未治疗龋病关系的调节作用。

简介：龋齿在孕妇中非常普遍，研究潜在的改变因素对这一人群尤为重要。本研究旨在评估口腔健康素养（OHL）在社会经济条件与孕妇龋病关系中的调节作用。方法：这项横断面研究是在巴西南部圣玛丽亚市的公共卫生服务中心进行的。使用巴西成人牙科识字率快速评估（BREALD-30）仪器评估OHL。使用蛀牙、缺牙或补牙（DMFT）指数来测量龋齿的存在。社会经济条件是根据家庭收入和教育水平来评估的。采用多水平泊松回归分析，检验了OHL对收入、教育程度和龋病（DMFT的D分量）之间关系的调节作用。结果以患病率（PR）表示。结果：共检查孕妇520例，有效率93%。受教育程度低、OHL低的孕妇患龋率比受教育程度高、OHL高的孕妇高69%。同样，在高收入人群中，与高收入和高收入人群相比，低OHL孕妇未经治疗的龋齿患病率高出57%。结论：我们的研究结果表明，低OHL改变了社会经济条件与孕妇龋齿之间的关系。低OHL似乎是一个加重因素，潜在地加剧了这一人群的口腔健康结果。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Caries Research 医学-牙科与口腔外科

CiteScore

6.30

自引率

7.10%

发文量

审稿时长

6-12 weeks

期刊介绍： ''Caries Research'' publishes epidemiological, clinical and laboratory studies in dental caries, erosion and related dental diseases. Some studies build on the considerable advances already made in caries prevention, e.g. through fluoride application. Some aim to improve understanding of the increasingly important problem of dental erosion and the associated tooth wear process. Others monitor the changing pattern of caries in different populations, explore improved methods of diagnosis or evaluate methods of prevention or treatment. The broad coverage of current research has given the journal an international reputation as an indispensable source for both basic scientists and clinicians engaged in understanding, investigating and preventing dental disease.