Authors : Young-Sook Kwon and Kyung-Shin Paek
Abstract: This study is to examine the oral health literacy and oral health-related quality of life in community elderly and to identify their relationship. Participants in this cross-sectional survey were 285 aged over 65 elderly. Data were collected from Aug. 4-29, 2015 using the self-report questionnaire. ANOVA and t-test were conducted to examine the oral health literacy by the characteristics of the participants. The relationship between oral health literacy and oral health-related quality of life was estimated by the Pearson correlation coefficients. The mean score of oral health literacy was 34.19(±14.54). The 57.9% of participants were at a 4-6th grade level of oral health literacy and 23.5% were at a 7-8th grade level of oral health literacy. The mean score of oral health-related quality of life was 14.27(±12.04). Oral health literacy was correlated negatively with oral health-related quality of life (r = -0.347, p<0.001). All of the correlations between oral health literacy and seven domains of oral health-related quality of life were significant. These findings show the importance of establishing intervention programs to strengthen the oral health literacy of elderly to help them increase the oral health-related quality of life.
Young-Sook Kwon and Kyung-Shin Paek, 2017. The Relations among Oral Health Literacy and Oral Health-Related Quality of Life of Elderly Living in a Community. Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 12: 6530-6534.