title: Knowledge of and attitudes towards periodontal health among adults in Tehran.
abstract: Determining what people know and believe about periodontal health and disease is important in order to establish prevention practices. This study aimed to assess knowledge of and attitudes towards periodontal health among adults in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran. We conducted a cross-sectional face-to-face interview survey in 2011 of 791 adults aged 18-50 years using a stratified, multistage sampling method. We recorded demographic characteristics including age, sex, education, marital status, employment and economic status (housing density). The lowest percentage of correct answers was related to the definition of dental plaque (11.6%) and the highest was for the role of the dental visit in prevention (92.8%). Female sex, university education and higher economic status were significantly associated with a higher mean score on periodontal health knowledge. The regression analysis showed that positive attitudes were associated with higher periodontal health knowledge and having university education. In this study positive attitudes towards prevention were related to better knowledge.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Oral Health, School of Dentistry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Islamic Republic of Iran; Department of Oral Public Health, Institute of Dentistry, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gholami
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Oral Health, School of Dentistry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Islamic Republic of Iran.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pakdaman
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Oral Health, School of Dentistry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Islamic Republic of Iran.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jafari
authors.affiliation: Institute of Dentistry, University of Oulu; Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland.
authors.forename: J I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Virtanen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult