Associations of health literacy with dental care use and oral health status in Japan
Abstract Background The concept of health literacy has gained prominence in the context of oral health. In Japan, curative dental care is generally under universal health coverage, while preventive dental care requires effort. We used this situation to test the hypothesis that high health literacy i...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2023-06-01
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| Series: | BMC Public Health |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15866-7 |
| _version_ | 1797806469338365952 |
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| author | Keiko Murakami Jun Aida Shinichi Kuriyama Hideki Hashimoto |
| author_facet | Keiko Murakami Jun Aida Shinichi Kuriyama Hideki Hashimoto |
| author_sort | Keiko Murakami |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background The concept of health literacy has gained prominence in the context of oral health. In Japan, curative dental care is generally under universal health coverage, while preventive dental care requires effort. We used this situation to test the hypothesis that high health literacy is associated with preventive dental care use and good oral health status, but not with curative dental care use, in Japan. Methods A questionnaire survey was conducted from 2010 to 2011 among residents aged 25–50 years in Japanese metropolitan areas. Data from 3767 participants were used. Health literacy was measured using the Communicative and Critical Health Literacy Scale, and the total score was categorized into quartiles. Poisson regression analyses with robust variance estimators were conducted to examine the associations of health literacy with curative dental care use, preventive dental care use, and good oral health, adjusted for covariates. Results The percentages of curative dental care use, preventive dental care use, and good oral health were 40.2%, 28.8%, and 74.0%, respectively. Health literacy was not associated with curative dental care use; the prevalence ratio (PR) of the highest relative to the lowest quartile of health literacy was 1.04 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.93–1.18). High health literacy was associated with preventive dental care use and good oral health; the corresponding PRs were 1.17 (95% CI, 1.00–1.36) and 1.09 (95% CI, 1.03–1.15), respectively. Conclusions These findings may provide clues for the design of effective interventions to promote preventive dental care use and improve oral health status. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T06:07:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d664523a5b31416f85444f2845a62c06 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-2458 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T06:07:47Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-d664523a5b31416f85444f2845a62c062023-06-11T11:27:53ZengBMCBMC Public Health1471-24582023-06-012311910.1186/s12889-023-15866-7Associations of health literacy with dental care use and oral health status in JapanKeiko Murakami0Jun Aida1Shinichi Kuriyama2Hideki Hashimoto3Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku UniversityDepartment of Oral Health Promotion, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental UniversityTohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku UniversityDepartment of Health and Social Behavior, School of Public Health, The University of TokyoAbstract Background The concept of health literacy has gained prominence in the context of oral health. In Japan, curative dental care is generally under universal health coverage, while preventive dental care requires effort. We used this situation to test the hypothesis that high health literacy is associated with preventive dental care use and good oral health status, but not with curative dental care use, in Japan. Methods A questionnaire survey was conducted from 2010 to 2011 among residents aged 25–50 years in Japanese metropolitan areas. Data from 3767 participants were used. Health literacy was measured using the Communicative and Critical Health Literacy Scale, and the total score was categorized into quartiles. Poisson regression analyses with robust variance estimators were conducted to examine the associations of health literacy with curative dental care use, preventive dental care use, and good oral health, adjusted for covariates. Results The percentages of curative dental care use, preventive dental care use, and good oral health were 40.2%, 28.8%, and 74.0%, respectively. Health literacy was not associated with curative dental care use; the prevalence ratio (PR) of the highest relative to the lowest quartile of health literacy was 1.04 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.93–1.18). High health literacy was associated with preventive dental care use and good oral health; the corresponding PRs were 1.17 (95% CI, 1.00–1.36) and 1.09 (95% CI, 1.03–1.15), respectively. Conclusions These findings may provide clues for the design of effective interventions to promote preventive dental care use and improve oral health status.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15866-7Curative dental care useHealth literacyJapanOral healthPreventive dental care use |
| spellingShingle | Keiko Murakami Jun Aida Shinichi Kuriyama Hideki Hashimoto Associations of health literacy with dental care use and oral health status in Japan BMC Public Health Curative dental care use Health literacy Japan Oral health Preventive dental care use |
| title | Associations of health literacy with dental care use and oral health status in Japan |
| title_full | Associations of health literacy with dental care use and oral health status in Japan |
| title_fullStr | Associations of health literacy with dental care use and oral health status in Japan |
| title_full_unstemmed | Associations of health literacy with dental care use and oral health status in Japan |
| title_short | Associations of health literacy with dental care use and oral health status in Japan |
| title_sort | associations of health literacy with dental care use and oral health status in japan |
| topic | Curative dental care use Health literacy Japan Oral health Preventive dental care use |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15866-7 |
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