Exploring Oral Health Issues Among Adult Hispanic Migrant Workers in South Florida: A Mixed Method Approach

Objective: The study purpose was to explore oral health issues and the effect of a set of predisposing, enabling, and need factors (Andersen Behavioral Model of Health Services Utilization) on dental services utilization among adult Hispanic migrant workers in South Florida.  A second objective was to complement the quantitative analysis with ethnographic interviews that expanded our understanding of this issue.

Methods:  For the quantitative approach, oral health data were collected via A-CASI during 2010 and 2011 from participants (278) living in South Florida. Univariate as well as hierarchical logistic regression analysis were utilized to identify those predisposing, enabling, and needs factors associated with dental services utilization (length of time since last dental visit; 0=within a year; 1=more than a year).  Additionally, fourteen ethnographic interviews were conducted and analyzed using Atlas.ti for the purpose of the qualitative analysis.

Results: Only 20% of adults had a past-year dental visit.  Employment status, self-perceived need for dental care, oral health impact profile, oral health symptoms, and self-perceived oral health were significantly associated with dental services utilization. Qualitative analysis revealed that participants did not seek oral health care mainly because of economic reasons and relied on home and traditional remedies.

Conclusions: This synergistic mixed methods approach broadens our understanding of the various aspects underlying the oral health of this underserved population and their oral health seeking behaviors.

Despite a self-perception of being in need for oral health, study participants expressed their reluctance to do so because of economic reasons as well as language and cultural barriers.