title: Prevalence and predictors for clinical attachment loss in adolescents in Latin America: cross-sectional study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the prevalence, severity and extension of clinical attachment loss (CAL) and to study the predictors in 15- to 19-year-old adolescents from high schools in the Latin America.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional, epidemiological study was performed. The sample included 1070 high school adolescents 15-19 years of age from Santiago de Chile (Chile), Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Mendoza (Argentina), Montevideo (Uruguay), Quito (Ecuador) and Medellín (Colombia). Calibrated examiners performed full mouth, six sites per tooth clinical examination.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a response rate of 100%. The prevalence of CAL ≥3 mm in ≥1 site was 32.6%, probing pocket depth ≥4 mm was 59.3% and bleeding on probing (BoP) ≥25% was 28.6%. The logistic regression analysis adjusted for cities revealed that smoking (OR = 1.6), attending public school (OR = 2.3) and having a BoP ≥25% (OR = 4.2) were positively associated with CAL ≥3 mm in ≥ 1 site.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Clinical attachment loss was prevalent in Latin America adolescents and it is associated with smoking, attendance public school and BoP.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Periodontal Biology, Department of Conservative Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Alicia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morales
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Periodontal Biology, Department of Conservative Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Carvajal
authors.affiliation: School of Dentistry, Universidad de Maimónides, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Hugo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Romanelli
authors.affiliation: School of Dentistry, Universidad de Maimónides, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Mariel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gómez
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Dentistry, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Loha
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Dentistry, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina.
authors.forename: María E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Esper
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Dentistry, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina.
authors.forename: Graciela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Musso
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, School of Dentistry, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia.
authors.forename: Carlos M
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3663-1416
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Ardila
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, School of Dentistry, Universidad CES, Medellín, Colombia.
authors.forename: Andrés
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Duque
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Dentistry, Universidad Central del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Medina
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bueno
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: Ernesto
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Andrade
authors.affiliation: Oral Health Department, DIPRECE, Ministerio de Salud, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mendoza
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Periodontal Biology, Department of Conservative Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gamonal
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003729:Dental Care; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007843:Latin America / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D017622:Periodontal Attachment Loss / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: adolescent; clinical attachment loss; predictor; probing depth