Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #108825

Barbara B. Andoh, DDS, MPH¹, Karolynn Siegel, PhD², Eric W. Schrimshaw, MA (PhD cand)², Carol Kunzel, PhD², and Dennis A. Mitchell, DDS, MPH³. (1) Division of Pediatric Dentistry, Columbia University School of Dental and Oral Surgery, 630 West 168th Street, P&S Box 20, New York, NY 10032, 212-305-7951, bba3@columbia.edu, (2) Center for the Psychosocial Study of Health & Illness, Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, 100 Haven Avenue, Suite 6A, New York, NY 10032, (3) School of Dental and Oral Surgery, Columbia University, 630 West 168th St., New York, NY 10032

While poor oral health has been well documented among African Americans, much less attention has been paid to their perceived oral health-related quality of life. This study examined how the perception of oral conditions impacts quality of life among African-American adults. As part of an ongoing study, 89 African American adults have been recruited from Central Harlem using the street-intercept method, had to be at least 18 years old and have a dental symptom within the past 6 months. The participants then completed an interviewer-administered questionnaire including demographic information and the short form of the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14). Items such as gender, age of the participant, and number of co-morbid health conditions had no significance on the quality of life. However, participants who viewed their overall health (Pearson Correlation = 0.22) and oral health more positively (Pearson Correlation = 0.33) were significantly more likely to have higher oral quality of life. In addition, fully dentate people also tended to have a higher oral quality of life than those who had lost teeth or those who were edentulous (p < .05). Intervention efforts to increase oral quality of life should target edentulous individuals and those who perceived their overall health as poor and to address the oral health problems that might reduce oral quality of life.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe what is currently known about disparities in oral quality of life.
• Identify factors which are associated with lower oral quality of life among African Americans in Central Harlem.
• Relate how overall perceptions of health relate to perception of oral quality of life.
• Suggest how interventions should target individuals to address oral health problems which reduce oral quality of life.

Keywords: African American, Oral Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.