Access to information on how to avoid oral health problems among elderly persons registered with the Family Health Strategy

Abstract

Objectives : To identify the level of access to information regarding how to prevent oral health problems among the elderly, and verify if such levels were higher among members of households registered with the Family Health Strategy Program. Methods : An analytic cross-sectional study was conducted of a probabilistic complex sample of elderly (65-74 years old) members of the population of a large city. The level of access was estimated with adjustment for the design effect, as well as the magnitudes of association. Descriptive, bivariate and logistic regression (OR/CI95%) analysis was performed. Variables related to personal determinants, health services, health-related behavior and health outcomes were considered. Results : Of the 490 participants, 53.4% reported they had access to information about how to prevent oral health problems. This access was higher among elderly persons living in a household registered with the Family Health Strategy Program (2.04/1.14-3.67), and who had at least five years of schooling (2.53/1.67-3.83), regularly used dental services (1.84/1.07-3.17), did not smoke either now or in the past (1.79/1.13-2.82), did not suffer from chronic diseases (2.14/1.34-3.42) and had not suffered social impacts because of their oral health conditions (1.77/1.08-2.91). Conclusion : Most of the elderly persons had access to information about how to prevent oral health problems, with such access being greater among those registered with the Family Health Strategy Program.