title: Secular trends in socio-economic disparities in edentulism: USA, 1972-2001.
abstract: For health care planning and policy, it is important to determine whether socio-economic disparities in edentulism, an ultimate marker of oral health, have improved over time. The aim of this study was to investigate the socio-economic disparities in edentulism between 1972 and 2001. Representative samples of the United States population, 25-74 years old, were obtained from NHANES I (1972), III (1991), and 1999-2002. Differences in the edentulism prevalence between high and low socio-economic positions (SEP) were compared. Differences in edentulism prevalence remained stable over approximately three decades (p = 0.480), being 10.6 percentage points in 1972, 12.1 percentage points in 1991, and 11.3 percentage points in 2001. Exploratory subgroup analyses suggested that disparities decreased for those individuals reporting a dental visit in the prior year and those reporting never having smoked. In conclusion, the absolute prevalence difference in edentulism between low and high socio-economic positions has remained unchanged over the last three decades.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dental Public Health Sciences, University of Washington, B509, 1959 NE Pacific Street, Box 357475, Seattle, WA 98195-7475, USA. silvajcc@u.washington.edu
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cunha-Cruz
authors.forename: P P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Hujoel
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nadanovsky
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D003729:Dental Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003753:Dental Health Surveys; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009066:Mouth, Edentulous / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data