Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Ethnic Variation in Oral Health and Social Integration Among Older Rural Adults

Ethnic Variation in Oral Health and Social Integration Among Older Rural Adults This analysis examines the associations of oral health with social integration among ethnically diverse (African American, American Indian, White) rural older adults. Data are from a cross-sectional survey of 635 randomly selected community-dwelling adults aged 60+. Measures include self-rated oral health, number of teeth, number of oral health problems, social engagement, and social network size. Minority elders have poorer oral health than do White older adults. Most rural elders have substantial social engagement and social networks. Better oral health (greater number of teeth) is directly associated with social engagement, whereas the relationship of oral health to social network size is complex. The association of oral health with social engagement does not differ by ethnicity. Poorer oral health is associated with less social integration among African American, American Indian, and White elders. More research on the ways oral health affects the lives of older adults is warranted. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Applied Gerontology SAGE

Ethnic Variation in Oral Health and Social Integration Among Older Rural Adults

Loading next page...
 
/lp/sage/ethnic-variation-in-oral-health-and-social-integration-among-older-TMFw2TQr8a

References (40)

Publisher
SAGE
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2011
ISSN
0733-4648
eISSN
1552-4523
DOI
10.1177/0733464811420428
pmid
23788829
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

This analysis examines the associations of oral health with social integration among ethnically diverse (African American, American Indian, White) rural older adults. Data are from a cross-sectional survey of 635 randomly selected community-dwelling adults aged 60+. Measures include self-rated oral health, number of teeth, number of oral health problems, social engagement, and social network size. Minority elders have poorer oral health than do White older adults. Most rural elders have substantial social engagement and social networks. Better oral health (greater number of teeth) is directly associated with social engagement, whereas the relationship of oral health to social network size is complex. The association of oral health with social engagement does not differ by ethnicity. Poorer oral health is associated with less social integration among African American, American Indian, and White elders. More research on the ways oral health affects the lives of older adults is warranted.

Journal

Journal of Applied GerontologySAGE

Published: Apr 1, 2013

There are no references for this article.