Sociodemographic, lifestyle, overall health and oral health factors associated with negative self-perception of oral health among the elderly: a cross-sectional study, Brazil, 2019.

OBJECTIVE

To identify sociodemographic, lifestyle and overall health factors and variables related to oral health conditions associated with negative perception of oral health among older Brazilians.

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional, population-based study using data extracted from the 2019 Brazilian National Health Survey. Initially, the chi-square test was used for data analysis. Subsequently, multivariate Poisson regression analysis was performed to determine adjusted prevalence ratios.

RESULTS

The sample consisted of 22,728 older adults. Of the participants, 33.2% identified their oral health as poor or very poor. This negative self-perception, based on the multivariate analysis, was associated with male sex (p-value<0.001; prevalence ratio [PR] 1.03; 95% confidence interval [95%CI] 1.02; 1.04), Black people (p-value<0.001; PR 1.04; 95%CI 1.03; 1.05), illiterate people (p-value<0.001; PR 1.03; 95%CI 1.02; 1.05), those with multimorbidity (p-value<0.001; PR 1.03; 95%CI 1.02; 1.03), those who did not brush their teeth every day (p-value<0.001; PR 1.14; 95%CI 1.07; 1.22), those who did not have dental insurance (p-value<0.001; PR 1.05; 95%CI 1.04; 1.06), those who had difficulty eating (p-value<0.001; RP 1.34; 95%CI 1.31; 1.38) and those who were not completely edentulous (p-value<0.001; 1.04; 95%CI 1.03; 1.04).

CONCLUSION

Negative self-perception of oral health in older adults is associated with poorer socioeconomic conditions, accumulation of chronic diseases in a single individual, poorer oral hygiene habits, difficulty eating, and presence of teeth in the mouth.