Does the Association between Guardians’ Sense of Coherence and their Children’s Untreated Caries Differ According to Socioeconomic Status?

Akiko Mizuta, Jun Aida, Mieko Nakamura and Toshiyuki Ojima
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Akiko Mizuta: Department of Community Health Nursing, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, 1-20-1, Handayama, Higashi-ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 431–3192, Japan
Jun Aida: Department of International and Community Oral Health, Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry, 4-1 Seiryouchiyou, Aobaku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8575, Japan
Mieko Nakamura: Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, 1-20-1, Handayama, Higashi-ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 431–3192, Japan
Toshiyuki Ojima: Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, 1-20-1, Handayama, Higashi-ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 431–3192, Japan

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 5, 1-11

Abstract: Untreated caries is the most prevalent disease in the world. A sense of coherence (SOC) is believed to contribute to oral health. We aimed to clarify the association between guardians’ SOC and their children’s caries based on socioeconomic status (SES) in Japan. This study’s subjects were Japanese public junior high schoolers (N = 1730), aged 12–15, and their guardians in Kosai City. We administered a questionnaire survey among guardians in 2016 to assess their SOC and family environment. With their students’ consent, public junior high schools shared the results of the dental examinations that were part of their school physicals. Multivariate logistic regression was conducted to clarify the association between guardians’ SOC and their children’s untreated decayed permanent teeth. We also conducted a stratified analysis according to a relative poverty line. We observed in the multivariate regression a significant inverse association between children’s untreated decay and their guardians’ SOC (OR 0.93, 95%CI 0.87–1.00). The association of SOC was stronger in the low economic group (OR 0.64, 95%CI 0.43–0.95). Guardians with higher SOC were associated with children having fewer caries. Guardians’ SOC is a factor for the prevalence of caries and access to dental care, especially among children with low economic status.

Keywords: dental caries; sense of coherence; economic status (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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