Facilitators of Oral Health Literacy and Predictor of Oral Health Outcomes in Adult Population of Ahmedabad City, India.

Background: Measurement of literacy gives an insight into a person's oral health awareness. Inclusion of psychological, emotional, behavioural and knowledge quotient can provide a holistic aspect to the measuring tool.

Aim: The aim of the study was to determine the enabling factor of oral health literacy (OHL) and predictors of oral health outcome among the adult population in Ahmedabad city.

Subjects and methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 427 eligible participants aged 35-44 years obtained through a multistage sampling method in three stages. Data about OHL were recorded with the help of a 14-item questionnaire, whereas socioeconomic status (SES), tobacco habit, oral hygiene status, dental caries experience, prosthetic status and oral precancerous lesions were collected with clinical examination. Multivariable regression was used to analyse enabling variables for OHL and predictor for oral health outcome.

Results: It was found that more than half (54.3%) of the study subjects had marginal OHL. Participants from upper SES had 1.053 greater odds (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.053-1.167; P = 0.001) having adequate OHL relative to inadequate OHL. Participants with adequate OHL have 9.373 times greater odds (95% CI: 1.890-4.491; P = 0.006) having good oral hygiene relative to poor oral hygiene. OHL appeared to be a meaningful predictor for oral hygiene, dental caries experience, tobacco consumption, precancerous lesion and prosthetic status.

Conclusion: Adult education and SES are potential facilitators for adequate to marginal OHL, and OHL can fairly predict oral health.