Abstract
Background: Socio-economic status plays a role in influencing oral health and oral health related behaviors and problems. The objective of the present study was to determine the influence of educational status and retirement grade level on oral health knowledge attitude and behavior. Methods: The research was analytic descriptive survey in design. A total of 543 old people were selected by systematic random sampling. Data was collected with a self-developed Oral Health Assessment Questionnaire (OHAQ) designed in four sections (A-D) and analyzed using SPSS version 20 (IBM SPSS Armonk, New York). The relationship between variables was established using independent t-test and ANOVA, and significance determined at 0.05 alpha level. Results: Total of 119 (21.9%), 198 (36.5%) and 226 (41.6%) had primary, secondary and tertiary education respectively. The pensioners who retired on levels 1-6 were 277 (51%) and those who retired on levels 7-17 were 266 (49%). The level of education significant influenced oral health knowledge, attitude and behavior. Retirement grade level significantly influenced oral health behavior and non-significantly influenced oral health knowledge and attitude. Conclusion: The study found out that oral health knowledge, attitude and behavior increased significantly with increasing level of education. There was a significant increase in oral health behavior with increasing retirement grade level and a non-significant increase in oral health attitude and behavior.
Highlights
The risk factors common to a number of chronic diseases are determinants of oral diseases [1,2,3]
The pensioners who retired on levels 1-6 were 277 (51%) and those who retired on levels 7-17 were 266 (49%)
The knowledge, attitude and behavior score were higher for grade levels 7-17 than levels 1-6 indicating that grade level influenced the oral health knowledge, attitude and behavior of the pensioners and an increase in grade level was associated with increase in oral health knowledge, attitude and behavior
Summary
The risk factors common to a number of chronic diseases are determinants of oral diseases [1,2,3]. Individuals with tertiary education utilise dental service more frequently than those with secondary education and those with secondary education than those with primary education [6,7,8] Factors such as income and presence of dental insurance are associated with the number of dental visits among older Americans aged 55-75 years [9] In another study, it was reported that retirement which is usually accompanied by reduced income and dental insurance coverage in developed countries was accompanied by lower. The objective of the present study was to determine the influence of educational status and retirement grade level on oral health knowledge attitude and behavior. The level of education significant influenced oral health knowledge, attitude and behavior. There was a significant increase in oral health behavior with increasing retirement grade level and a non-significant increase in oral health attitude and behavior
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