The association of psychosocial factors and smoking with periodontal health in a community population.
OBJECTIVE
The association between psychosocial factors and periodontal disease has been widely reported and might be modified by smoking status. This study investigated the association of periodontal status with psychosocial factors and smoking in a community population.


METHODS
A structured questionnaire was administered to a total of 1,764 civilian noninstitutional (general population excluding from nursing homes, sanitariums and hospitals) Taiwanese individuals to assess the presence and severity of psychosocial factors [using the 12-item Chinese health questionnaire (CHQ-12)], smoking habits and other related factors. Periodontal status was established using the community periodontal index and by measuring clinical loss of attachment.


RESULTS
Psychological factors and smoking were significantly associated with loss of attachment (odds ratio = 1.69, 95% confidence interval = 1.01-2.77, comparing the CHQ-12 score of >or= 6 with the CHQ-12 score of 0-2 and p = 0.032 for linear trend; odds ratio = 2.21, 95% confidence interval = 1.45-3.37, comparing smokers with nonsmokers) but not with community periodontal index. The association was found to be stronger among smokers than among nonsmokers. Smokers with a CHQ-12 score of >or= 6 had a higher odds ratio of loss of attachment (odds ratio = 2.49, 95% confidence interval = 0.91-6.49) than nonsmokers (odds ratio = 1.43, 95% confidence interval = 0.76-2.58). For periodontal health measured using the community periodontal index, married and divorced/widowed subjects tended to have poorer periodontal health (odds ratio = 3.38, 95% confidence interval = 1.26-10.81 and odds ratio = 3.83, 95% confidence interval = 1.21-13.83, respectively) than single subjects among nonsmokers but not among smokers.


CONCLUSIONS
Poor mental health had a stronger association with periodontal disease among smokers than among nonsmokers, especially in accumulative attachment loss. Our findings suggest that mental health and smoking might have a synergistic effect on the risk of developing periodontal disease.
Chiou
L-J
LJ
Department of Health Business Administration, Meiho Institute of Technology, Taiwan.
Yang
Y-H
YH
Hung
H-C
HC
Tsai
C-C
CC
Shieh
T-Y
TY
Wu
Y-M
YM
Wang
W-C
WC
Hsu
T-C
TC
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D005884:Gingival Hemorrhage / Q000145:classification; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D017622:Periodontal Attachment Loss / Q000145:classification; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000145:classification / Q000209:etiology*; D010512:Periodontal Index; D010514:Periodontal Pocket / Q000145:classification; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016388:Tooth Loss / Q000145:classification; D055815:Young Adult