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The interactive effects of oral health literacy and acculturation on dental care use among Hispanic adults

Year: 2022

Type: article

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: Assess whether there is an interactive effect between oral health literacy and acculturation on dental care use for Hispanic adults. METHODS: Self-identifying Hispanic adults participated in this observational study (N = 338). Oral health literacy (low vs. high) was measured using the Comprehensive Measure of Oral Health Knowledge (CMOHK). Acculturation (low vs. high) was measured using the Short Acculturation Scale for Hispanics (SASH) and operationalized a second way by the language in which the survey was completed (English or Spanish). The outcome was dental care use in the past year (yes/no). Confounder-adjusted modified Poisson regression models were run to generate risk ratios (RR) and to test the hypothesis that participants with high oral health literacy and high acculturation would be more likely to have used dental care in the past year than participants with low oral health literacy and low acculturation. RESULTS: About 65% of participants used dental care in the past year. The final models failed to show that participants with high oral health literacy and high acculturation were more likely to have used dental care than other participants. However, in the language proxy interaction model, participants with high oral health literacy and low acculturation were significantly more likely to have used dental care than participants with low oral health literacy and low acculturation. CONCLUSION: There may be an interaction between oral health literacy and acculturation when modeling dental care use for Hispanic adults that should be further explored.

Source: Journal of Public Health Dentistry

DOI: 10.1111/jphd.12529

Authors: Daisy Patiño Nguyen, Michelle R. McQuistan, Fang Qian, Marcela Hernández, Mark D. Macek, Donald L. Chi

Institutions: University of Washington, University of Iowa, University of Maryland, Baltimore

Language: English

Topic: Dental Health and Care Utilization

Subfield: Periodontics

Field: Dentistry

Domain: Health Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,150