Sociodemographic characteristics associated with oral health literacy in adults: A cross-sectional study

TL;DR

This study found that oral health literacy in Peruvian adults is linked to factors like being female, younger age, and higher income.

Contribution

The study identifies specific sociodemographic factors associated with oral health literacy in a Peruvian urban population.

Findings

Higher oral health literacy was observed in women and individuals with higher incomes.

Oral health literacy decreased with increasing age and number of children.

Adjusted analysis confirmed associations with gender, age, and income.

Abstract

To determine the sociodemographic characteristics associated with oral health literacy (OHL) in Peruvian adults attending a public health center in Lima.

This cross-sectional study included 384 Peruvian adults aged 19 to 64 who visited a health center in Metropolitan Lima. OHL was measured using the Peruvian version of the Health Literacy in Dentistry-14 (HeLD-14) score. Sociodemographic characteristics, including gender, age, place of residence, number of children, health insurance status, educational level, occupation, and monthly income, were collected. Bivariate analysis was performed using the nonparametric Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis, and Spearman correlation tests, while multivariate analysis was conducted using the linear regression model with a significance level of 5%.

The average OHL score was 48.60 ± 6.89. Literacy was higher in women (p = 0.004) and among those with higher incomes (p = 0.002). Conversely, literacy decreased with increasing age (p = 0.022) and number of children (p = 0.033). In the adjusted model, an association was found with being female (β = 0.097, p = 0.001), younger age (β = -0.003, p = 0.015), and a monthly income greater than five minimum wages (β = 0.100, p = 0.025).

OHL in an adult population in an urban area tends to be high and is associated with sociodemographic characteristics such as gender, age, and monthly income.