Oral Health Literacy and Oral Health Status Among Thai Elderly

Abstract

Aim or Purpose: This study aimed to examine the level of oral health literacy among elderly patients in the Geriatric Dental Clinic and to determine the association between oral health literacy and oral health status. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 155 older adults aged up to 60 years. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Fisher's exact test and Spearman's correlation were used to determining the relationship between oral health literacy and related factors and oral health status. All analyses were conducted at a 95% confidence interval, with statistical significance sets at a p-value less than 0.05. Results: The study found that the mean oral health literacy score was 15.60±0.14, with 86.5% of participants having a high level, 11.6% having a low level, and 1.9% having a very low level of oral health literacy. The study also found a significant association between oral health literacy and demographic data, including education levels, income, and occupation at p-values of 0.000, 0.0013, and 0.002, respectively. Furthermore, oral health status including plaque index, periodontal status, and missing teeth, was significantly associated with oral health literacy at p-values of 0.001, 0.020, and 0.000, respectively. Conclusions: The study concluded that patients with lower literacy were more likely to report poor oral hygiene than those with higher literacy. This highlights the need for interventions to improve oral health literacy before getting older to promote better oral health outcomes.