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Social inequalities in oral health in a group of older people in a Middle Eastern country: a cross-sectional survey

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Abstract

Background and objective

The percentage of Lebanese older people has increased considerably. Given that Lebanese seniors are marginalized in the health policy-making process, we suggest a high social inequality in oral health that has not been studied so far. The purpose of our study was to describe and compare oral health status in a group of Lebanese older people according to their socioeconomic status (SES)

Materials and Methods

Participants were recruited from three different primary health care clinics in Beirut, Lebanon. Data were collected from an administered questionnaire that included sociodemographic variables, perception of oral health, and regular dental visits. Oral examination included the number of missing and decayed teeth, the prosthetic status, and the number of functional dental units (FUs). The SES of the participants was determined by educational level, previous or actual work, and neighborhood level.

Results

264 participants aged 71.4 ± 6.27 years (64.7% female) were included in the study. Regular dental visit, dental status, FU, and oral health perception were significantly related to the participants’ place of residence, educational level, and work. Moreover, the mean number of missing teeth (p = 0.048) and decayed teeth (p = 0.018) was significantly elevated in the low SES.

Conclusion

There is a clear socioeconomic inequality in oral health among the Lebanese older people. Further researches should explore the potential contribution of psychosocial and behavioral factors in explaining these disparities.

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Funding

There are no financial or other relationships that might lead to a conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Prosthetic Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Saint-Joseph University, Beirut, Lebanon

    Nada El Osta, Carole Abi-Ghosn & Jihad Fakhouri

  2. Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, Saint-Joseph University, Beirut, Lebanon

    Nada El Osta & Lana El Osta

  3. Centre de Recherche en Odontologie Clinique, University of Clermont Auvergne, EA 4847, BP 10448, 63000, Clermont-Ferrand, France

    Nada El Osta, Martine Hennequin & Stephanie Tubert-Jeannin

  4. Private Practice, Beirut, Lebanon

    Robert Saad

  5. Laboratoire de pharmacologie, Faculty of Pharmacy, Pharmacie clinique et contrôle de qualité des médicaments, Saint-Joseph University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon

    Lydia Rabbaa Khabbaz

  6. Faculty of Pharmacy, Saint-Joseph University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon

    Lydia Rabbaa Khabbaz

Authors
  1. Nada El Osta
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  2. Lana El Osta
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  3. Lydia Rabbaa Khabbaz
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  4. Robert Saad
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  5. Carole Abi-Ghosn
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  6. Martine Hennequin
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  7. Stephanie Tubert-Jeannin
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Contributions

NEO, LEO, MH, and SJT contributed with conception and design, analysis, and interpretation of data. NEO, LRK, JF, MH, SJT, and RS contributed with acquisition of data. NEO, RS, CAG, MH, and LEO involved in drafting the manuscript. NEO, LEO, LRK, CAG, MH, and JF revised critically the manuscript for important intellectual content. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nada El Osta.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethical approval

The protocol was submitted to the ethics committee of Saint-Joseph University of Beirut, Lebanon (Ref: CEE 366).

Informed consent

Written informed consent was obtained from the participants.

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Cite this article

El Osta, N., El Osta, L., Khabbaz, L.R. et al. Social inequalities in oral health in a group of older people in a Middle Eastern country: a cross-sectional survey. Aging Clin Exp Res 30, 1513–1521 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-018-0927-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-018-0927-8

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