Oral Health Literacy: Decision-Making and Reading Comprehension Skills as the Determinants of Self-Reported Oral Health

Negar  Ebrahimi; Katayoun  Sargeran; Reza  Yazdani

doi:10.18502/fid.v22i13.18469

Negar Ebrahimi Dental Implant Research Center, Dental Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Katayoun Sargeran Research Center for Caries Prevention, Dentistry Research Institute, Department of Community Oral Health, School of Dentistry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Reza Yazdani Research Center for Caries Prevention, Dentistry Research Institute, Department of Community Oral Health, School of Dentistry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/fid.v22i13.18469

Keywords: Health literacy; Oral Health; Self-assessment

Abstract

Objectives: Oral health literacy (OHL) is a concept far beyond reading and including other skills such as numeracy skills, listening, and decision-making. Self-reported oral health(SROH) is a reliable and cost-effective measure of dental and periodontal conditions. The current study aimed to evaluate the association between various aspects of OHL and SROH.

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among adults visiting a dental school. One interviewer asked each individual ” How would you describe your oral health at present?” to measure SROH. Two response categories were “good” and “poor”. OHL-AQ (Oral Health Literacy Adult Questionnaire) was used to measure different aspects of OHL (Reading comprehension and knowledge, listening, numeracy and communication, and decision-making skills). The total scores ranged from 0 and 17. To analyze the data binary logistic regression and chi-square tests were performed. (P=0.05)

Results: Totally 253 adults participated. Most participants (65.21%) were females. The numbers of subjects with good and poor SROH were 127(50.20%) and 126(49.80%) respectively. The mean age of the participants was 37.75±10.69 years and ranged from 18 to 65 years. The overall mean OHL score was 11.74±3.12. Out of the components of OHL in OHL-AQ, reading comprehension and knowledge skills (p=0.032), and decision-making skills (p=0.013) had a significant positive correlation with good SROH. In contrast, listening (p=0.955) and numeracy skills (p=0.349) did not exhibit a similar association.

Conclusion: OHL level, particularly decision-making, reading comprehension, and knowledge skills, is associated with SROH.