Oral Health Literacy Levels Among a Low-income WIC Population

Overview

Journal J Public Health Dent

Specialties Dentistry
Public Health

Date 2011 Jul 21

PMID 21774139

Citations 38

Authors

Jessica Y Lee

Kimon Divaris

A Diane Baker

R Gary Rozier

Shoou-Yih D Lee

William F Vann Jr

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objectives: To determine oral health literacy (OHL) levels and explore potential racial differences in a low-income population.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of caregiver/child dyads that completed a structured 30-minute in-person interview conducted by two trained interviewers in seven counties in North Carolina. Sociodemographic, OHL, and dental health-related data were collected. OHL was measured with a dental word recognition test [Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Dentistry (REALD-30)]. Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate methods were used to examine the distribution of OHL and explore racial differences.

Results: Of 1658 eligible subjects, 1405 (85 percent) participated and completed the interviews. The analytic sample (N=1280) had mean age 26.5 (standard deviation = 6.9) years with 60 percent having a high school degree or less. OHL varied between racial groups as follows: Whites--mean score = 17.4 (SE = 0.2); African-American (AA)--mean score = 15.3 [standard error (SE) = 0.2]; American Indian (AI)--mean score = 13.7 (SE = 0.3). Multiple linear regression revealed that after controlling for education, county of residence, age, and Hispanic ethnicity, Whites had 2.0 points (95 percent CI = 1.4, 2.6) higher adjusted REALD-30 score versus AA and AI.

Conclusions: Differences in OHL levels between racial groups persisted after adjusting for education and sociodemographic characteristics.

Citing Articles

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Impact of research paradigms on low-income female caregivers and their children: an oral health literacy discourse.

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Veladas F, De la Torre Canales G, Nobre B, Escoval A, Pedro A, de Almeida A BMC Public Health. 2023; 23(1):2543.

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