Abstract
Objectives : The purpose of the this study was to obtain necessary source data for development of oral health improvement and promotion programs for the elderly by investigating the actual situations of oral health education related experience and needs that senior citizens had in Korea. Methods : In this study, convenience sampling was conducted in 430 senior citizens aged 65 years who lived in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do in Korea, for about six months from December 2011 to May 2012. For data collection, the structured questionnaire was used. Community-based senior citizens' welfare facilities and centres, as well as nearby churches were visited to inform them of the information on this study. Then, the senior citizens who agreed to participate in this study were given the questionnaire sheets. Excluding 33 copies of inadequately completed questionnaire sheets, 397 copies (92.3% of the entire collected data) were analyzed. Results : 1. In terms of the experience with oral health education, the number of elderly respondents who have not received oral health education was 202 (50.9%), whereas the number of those who have received oral health education was 195 (49.1%), which indicates that the latter shows a slightly higher proportion. 2. Examining the necessity for oral health education, the overall mean was 3.67 points based on 5 points as full marks, which suggests that senior citizens have high awareness of the necessity for oral health education. 3. Regarding the willingness to participate in oral health education, the number of those who answered that if any opportunity to receive oral health education is given, they would be willing to receive such the education was 211 (53.1%). Conclusions : Based upon the results mentioned above, we conclude that it is required to develop more systematic and sustained, life-long oral health education programs at the levels of senior citizen's welfare facilities and centres, in order to guide senior citizens to desirable oral health care practice.
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