Relationship between gender, income and education and self-perceived oral health among elderly Mexicans. An exploratory study

The aim of this study was to identify the relationship between sociodemographic factors and self-perceived oral health (SPOH) among the elderly. A cross-sectional, exploratory examination of 150 elderly subjects whose ages ranged from 60-86 was conducted. These subjects used the Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI) to assess their SPOH. In addition, sociodemographic data were collected from study participants. Data were analyzed using Student's t-test, the examination of odds ratio (OR) of logistic regression analysis, the chi-square test, and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The mean decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) index for the study participants was 20.1 +/- 5.8; 21.3% of subjects were edentulous, and 69.3% of subjects wore removable dentures. 62.7% of study participants had poor SPOH (defined as GOHAI score <44). Poor SPOH was significantly more frequent among males (OR = 2.72, 95% CI: 1.03-7.13, p < 0.05), low-income individuals (OR = 2.7, 95% CI: 1.3 -5.8, p < 0.01), and subjects with less education (OR = 2.26, 95% CI: 1.1-4.6, p < 0.05) than among the overall subject population. The findings suggest that gender (male), low income and low educational levels have a significant influence on the self-perceived oral health status of elderly individuals, irrespective of tooth loss.