Sociodental impacts related to dental status in older people: A comparative study in Greek and British populations

Some estimates of dental treatment needs use sociodental indicators. But a particular dental state may elicit different reactions and demands for dental care in different cultures. A limited amount of research has dealt with cross-cultural differences in oral impacts and quality of life. Most studies had methodological shortcomings. Furthermore, when controlling for confounders, the evidence for the existence of cross-cultural differences was inconclusive. The hypothesis of this study is that there are significant differences in socio-psychological responses to similar oral clinical conditions in older individuals living in Greece and Great Britain. The objectives are to assess and compare the relationship between oral status and oral impacts on daily performances and perceived treatment need between two samples of older people in Britain and Greece and to assess the prevalence and severity of oral impacts on daily performances, the perceived needs for dental care and correlated factors in a national sample of elderly people in Great Britain and in a sample of elderly people in Athens, Greece. The study was done using samples in Great Britain (753 people) and in Greece (681 people). Both samples were of independently living people aged 65 years-old or older. Identical methodological procedures were followed in both countries. Participants were clinically examined and interviewed using a questionnaire with the Oral Impacts on Daily Performance (OIDP) indicator. There were more oral impacts in the Greek than in the British sample; 39.1% versus 12.3% among dentate and 47.6% versus 16.3% among edentulous. The most prevalent specific oral impact was difficulty in eating. Differences were observed in the pattern of relationships of oral impacts with clinical indicators between the two countries. After controlling for sociodemographic variables, perceived general health and clinical oral status, Greek participants were over 4.5 times more likely to experience oral impacts than British. This indicated an independent cultural influence in the perception of oral impacts. On the basis of the findings of this study, the hypothesis is accepted