Differences Between Racial Groups in the Impact of Oral Disorders Among Older Adults in North Carolina

Objectives: This study investigated variations in impact of oral disorders between older black adults and older white adults living in North Carolina.

Methods: Using the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP) questionnaire, 440 participants aged 70 and older provided data on their perceptions of the impact of oral disease on aspects of their lives during the previous 12 months.

Results: For 22 of the 49 items queried in the OHIP questionnaire, older blacks reported more frequent impact than older whites (P < .05). For none of the OHIP items did whites report more frequent impact. The impacts reported were diverse and included items reflecting pain, physical disability, psychological disability, and social disability. When the number of items occurring fairly often or very often were summed for dentate participants, blacks reported more items than did whites (3.7 vs 1.1, P < .0001). This difference decreased to 2.7 vs 2.0 (P < .346) after controlling statistically for greater mean periodontal pocket depth, more unreplaced missing teeth, and more episodic dental visits among blacks.

Conclusions: Older dentate blacks reported more impact from oral problems than older dentate whites. The differences in reported impact likely are linked to differences in oral status and dental visit history between these two racial groups in North Carolina.