Abstract
Objectives
This study was conducted to identify discrepancies in oral health behaviors among communities in cities, counties, and districts (si, gun, and gu administrative divisions of South Korea) and to determine their correlations with socioeconomic status, examined in terms of the social deprivation index.
Methods
Data for 220,258 individuals, covering 247 communities, were extracted from a 2008 community health survey, and the frequency of brushing the teeth after lunch, flossing and interdental brushing was calculated and analyzed. Considering the characteristics of the data collected at individual and regional levels, a multilevel random-intercept logistic regression model was used for the analysis.
Results
A regional-level discrepancy was found in after-lunch brushing and the use of auxiliary oral hygiene items, with interclass correlations of 0.03 and 0.04, respectively. In particular, the odds ratio of using auxiliary oral hygiene items in the communities with the lowest socioeconomic status was as low as 0.49, compared to the highest level, thus demonstrating a conspicuous intercommunity difference.
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Table 1.
The variables of this study
Classification | The contents of variables |
---|---|
Independent variables Individual level | Sex: male or female Age: over the age 19 years, classified into 6 groups Income (monthly average equivalent household income): classified into 5 groups* Economic activity: active or inactive Cohabitation with spouse: yes or no Education: uneducated, ≤ elementary school, ≤ high school, university ≤ |
Regional level | Socioeconomic level (Regional deprivation index for Korean): Classified into 5 groups† Dental service level: Number of dentists per 100,000 population Social capital level: Number of volunteers per 1,000 population |
Dependent variables | Tooth brushing after lunch Usage of dental floss and interdental brush |
Table 2.
Oral health behavior: individual level
Table 3.
Oral health behavior: regional socioeconomic level
Table 4.
Multilevel logistic regression analysis of oral health behaviors