Life circumstances, lifestyles and oral health among older Canadians

To examine the contribution of life circumstances and lifestyles, and the interaction between them, to the oral health status of older Canadians.

Subjects were recruited using a telephone interview survey, based on random digit dialling and subsequently interviewed and clinically examined.

Four hundred and ninety-eight dentate subjects aged 53 years and over living independently in Ontario, Canada.

Subjects were classified as living in deprived, middle or privileged life circumstances based on their social and personal attributes. They were also classified as having relatively poor or relatively favourable lifestyles based on their health behaviours. The oral health status indicators used were: the number of missing teeth, the number of decayed and filled root surfaces, mean periodontal attachment loss, the number of oral symptoms in the previous four weeks, self-rated oral health, and a psycho social impact score.

In bivariate analyses, life circumstances were significantly associated with three of these six indicators and lifestyles with five. Healthy lifestyles had an effect on the oral health status of those living in deprived and middle circumstances but not on the privileged, although no overall interaction effect was observed in multivariate analyses controlling for gender and age.

These data suggest that, among this population, life circumstances and lifestyles are both related to oral health. They also indicate that the role of these factors varies according to the condition and health indicator in question.