title: Psychological distress and self-perception of oral health status among an immigrant population from Ethiopia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the association between psychological distress (PD) and perception of oral health status among a group of Ethiopian immigrants compared to the 'gold standard' of clinical diagnosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three hundred and forty Ethiopian immigrants, aged 18 years or more, were interviewed using a version of the Self-Reporting Questionnaire (World Health Organization) for the assessment of psychological status and perceived dental and periodontal health status. Clinical data for dental and periodontal health status were used as the 'gold standard' against the self-perceived assessment scores among the PD and no psychological distress (NPD) groups. These were compared for sensitivity and specificity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred and thirty-five subjects (40%) presented PD. Seventy-eight percent of the PD subjects reported a negative dental health status, as compared to 42% of the NPD subjects. Seventy-three percent of the PD subjects reported a negative periodontal health status, as compared to 44% of the NPD subjects (p<0.001). The sensitivity for self-perceived dental health status among the PD subjects was found to be 0.78 and the specificity was found to be 0.40, as compared to 0.59 and 0.69, respectively, among the NPD subjects (p<0.001). The sensitivity for self-perceived periodontal health status among the PD subjects was found to be 0.78 and the specificity was found to be 0.40, as compared to 0.59 and 0.58, respectively, among the NPD subjects (p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results demonstrate that PD may modify self-perception of health status. Self-perceived health and disease should be an integral element in the continuum of professional clinical health assessment and subsequent health care planning. The relevance of PD is evident in this immigrant ethnic group and should be considered and further studied in other at-risk minority communities.
authors: Department of Community Dentistry, Faculty of Dental Medicine, Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Dental Medicine, Jerusalem, Israel. vyuval@hadassah.org.il
authors: Yuval
authors: Y
authors: Vered
authors: Avi
authors: A
authors: Zini
authors: Harold D
authors: HD
authors: Sgan-Cohen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants; D005002:Ethiopia / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009909:Oral Health; D012649:Self Concept; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires