[Status of health and oral health of the elderly population in Lebanon].
Lebanon is in demographic transition as more people reach increasingly older age; 10% of the population in Lebanon is elderly. The incidence of chronic diseases and oral diseases increases significantly with age. However, 55% of the elderly have no health insurance and 82% have no dental insurance. Both noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and oral diseases are a major health burden in the country and share the same risk factors. The WHO strategy for prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases should therefore be a new approach for the prevention and control of dental diseases among Lebanese elderly. This paper aims to increase the awareness of the medical community in Lebanon about the interrelationship between general and oral health in the elderly and concludes with the need for the Ministry of Health to develop policies and national action plans against NCDs to reduce not only mortality from NCDs but also morbidity from oral diseases.
Département de Prothèse amovible, Faculté de Médecine dentaire, Université Saint-Joseph, Beyrouth (Liban).
N El
NE
Osta
Centre de Recherche en Odontologie Clinique (CROC), Université d'Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand (France).
M
M
Hennequin
Département de Santé publique, Faculté de Médecine, Université Saint-Joseph, Beyrouth (Liban).
L El
LE
Osta
Département de Parodontologie, Faculté de Médecine dentaire, Université Saint-Joseph, Beyrouth (Liban).
N Bou Abboud
NB
Naaman
Département de Santé publique, Faculté de Médecine, Université Saint-Joseph, Beyrouth (Liban).
N
N
Geahchan
Centre de Recherche en Odontologie Clinique (CROC), Université d'Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand (France).
S
S
Tubert-Jeannin
D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007861:Lebanon / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009909:Oral Health