title: Edentulism in high poverty rural counties.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the differences in oral health status among residents of high-poverty counties, as compared to residents of other rural or urban counties, specifically on the prevalence of edentulism.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used the 2005 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and the 2006 Area Resource File (ARF). All analyses were conducted with SAS and SAS-callable SUDAAN, in order to account for weighting and the complex sample design.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Characteristics significantly related to edentulism include: geographic location, gender, race, age, health status, employment, insurance, not having a usual source of care, education, marital status, presence of chronic disease, having an English interview, not deferring care due to cost, income, and dentist saturation within the county.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Significant associations between high-poverty rural and other rural counties and edentulism were found, and other socioeconomic and health status indicators remain strong predictors of edentulism.
authors.affiliation: Healthcare Administration, School of Business, University of Houston, Clear Lake, Houston, TX, USA. mitchellj@uhcl.edu
authors.forename: Jordan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bennett
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brock-Martin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D040343:Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009066:Mouth, Edentulous / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009909:Oral Health; D011203:Poverty; D015995:Prevalence; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult