Association between socio-demographic variables and partial edentulism in the Goan population: an epidemiological...

Although, incidence of complete edentulism has decreased, partial edentulism is still prevalent in the country. This study aims to establish a relationship between socio-demographic variables, etiological factors, and partial edentulism. It also evaluates the prevalence of different classes of partial edentulism according to Kennedy's classification.

An institution-based, cross-sectional study was conducted on a randomly selected population in the state of Goa, India. The study group included patients who attended the Outpatient Department (OPD) of Prosthodontics during September to October, 2009. Data were acquired based on a pre-formed pro-forma (inclusive of a structured questionnaire and clinical examination) and was statistically analysed using the chi-square test.

A total of 423 participants were enrolled for this study. Three hundred and twenty-two individuals were partially edentulous indicating a prevalence rate of 76.12%. 54.97% were females. The peak was recorded in the age group of 24-34 years, 51.24% were un-employed, 54.97% belonged to the medium income group, 58.07% resided in urban areas, 48.45% belonged to the basic educational group and 54.35% had a fair oral hygiene status. Kennedy's class III group (50.30%) was the most frequent type of partial edentulism. An association between the aforementioned characteristics and partial edentulism was recorded with a statistically significant association between partial edentulism and two characteristics, namely monthly family income and education.

Partial edentulism is dependent on a combination of socio-demographic factors and the present study reveals a high prevalence rate of partial edentulism in the studied population.