Socio-Environmental Factors Associated with Self-Rated Oral Health in South Africa: A Multilevel Effects Model

Bukola G. Olutola and Olalekan A. Ayo-Yusuf
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Bukola G. Olutola: School of Health Systems and Public Health, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
Olalekan A. Ayo-Yusuf: Department of Community Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa

IJERPH, 2012, vol. 9, issue 10, 1-19

Abstract: Aim : This study examined the influence of the social context in which people live on self-ratings of their oral health. Method : This study involved a representative sample of 2,907 South African adults (?16 years) who participated in the 2007 South African Social Attitude Survey (SASAS). We used the 2005 General Household Survey (n = 107,987 persons from 28,129 households) to obtain living environment characteristics of SASAS participants, including sources of water and energy, and household cell-phone ownership (a proxy measure for the social network available to them). Information obtained from SASAS included socio-demographic data, respondents’ level of trust in people, oral health behaviors and self-rated oral health. Results : Of the respondents, 76.3% self-rated their oral health as good. Social context influenced women’s self-rated oral health differently from that of men. Good self-rated oral health was significantly higher among non-smokers, employed respondents and women living in areas with higher household cell-phone ownership. Furthermore, trust and higher social position were associated with good self-rated oral health among men and women respectively. Overall, 55.1% and 18.3% of the variance in self-rated oral health were explained by factors operating at the individual and community levels respectively. Conclusion : The findings highlight the potential role of social capital in improving the population’s oral health.

Keywords: self-rated oral health; social capital; mixed-effects model; cell-phone ownership; trust; South Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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