title: The association between neighborhood social capital and self-reported dentate status in elderly Japanese--the Ohsaki Cohort 2006 Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Little is known about the influence of social capital on dental health. The aim of the present cross-sectional study was to determine the association between neighborhood social capital, individual social networks and social support and the number of remaining teeth in elderly Japanese.
  
  
  METHODS
  In December 2006, self-administered questionnaires were sent to 31,237 eligible community-dwelling individuals (response rate: 73.9%). Included in the analysis were 21,736 participants. Five neighborhood social capital variables were calculated from individual civic networks, sports and hobby networks, volunteer networks, friendship networks and social support variables. We used multilevel logistic regression models to estimate the odds ratio (OR) of having 20 or more teeth according to neighborhood social capital variables with adjustment for sex, age, individual social networks and social support, educational attainment, neighborhood educational level, dental health behavior, smoking status, history of diabetes and self-rated health.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average age of the participants was 74.9 (standard deviation; 6.6) years, and 28.5% of them had 20 or more teeth. In the univariate multilevel model, there were statistically significant associations between neighborhood sports and hobby networks, friendship networks and self-reported dentate status. In the multivariable multilevel model, compared with participants living in lowest friendship network neighborhoods, those living in highest friendship network neighborhoods had an OR 1.17 (95% confidence interval, 1.04-1.30) times higher for having 20 or more teeth.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a significant association between one network aspect of neighborhood social capital and individual dentate status regardless of individual social networks and social support.
authors.affiliation: Department of International and Community Oral Health, Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry, Sendai, Japan. j-aida@umin.ac.jp
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Aida
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kuriyama
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohmori-Matsuda
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hozawa
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Osaka
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tsuji
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003753:Dental Health Surveys; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009909:Oral Health; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires