Oral health knowledge, beliefs and practices among community-dwelling older adults in Shanghai, China: A cross-sectional analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To assess oral health knowledge, beliefs and practices among community-dwelling older adults in Shanghai, China. BACKGROUND: China is ageing faster than other developing countries. Four National Oral Health Surveys have been carried out in China between 1983 and 2015, focused on clinical oral examinations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 983 participants aged 60-93 years old, drawn from two community health service centres of Pudong New Area in Shanghai. Data were collected using a Chinese language questionnaire of oral health knowledge, beliefs and practices based on the Knowledge, Attitudes (beliefs) and Practices (KAP) model. The scale ranges were knowledge 0-19, beliefs 0-17 and practices 0-55, where a higher score indicated a more accurate perception. Multivariate analysis explored the related factors using IBM SPSS Statistics version 22.0. RESULTS: Mean (SD) scores of this questionnaire were oral health knowledge 13.0 (3.6), beliefs 13.0 (3.2) and practices 31.2 (11.2). Geographic location, age group, employment status, education and monthly household income showed significant statistical association with these scores (P < .001). Only three sociodemographic variables (education, age group and employment status) remained significant after further multiple regression analysis (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: The level of oral health knowledge, beliefs and practices among older adults in Shanghai, China, was not high. Younger and working individuals with higher level of education showed good oral health knowledge, beliefs and practices. Community-based oral health strategies are needed to increase oral health knowledge, in particular of oral daily cleaning, and improve beliefs and practices in regular dental visits.