CULTURAL IDENTITY AND CARIES EXPERIENCE IN ADOLESCENTS

Abstract

Aim: Currently, the number of migrants in European countries is substantial and still growing. As previous studies have shown, the acculturation process may influence immigrants’ health status. However, limited evidence is available to support the association of acculturation and oral health status, and more specifically, caries experience in immigrants. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore the relationship of cultural identity and dental caries among 15-16-year-old schoolchildren.

Methods: With permission of the East London and City Local Research Ethics Committee and the primary investigators, data from phases 1 (11-12 years of age) and 3 (15-16 years of age) of the Research with East London Adolescents Community Health Survey (RELACHS) will be used for secondary analysis. RELACHS included a sample of adolescents from 28 state secondary schools in East London, which was selected by using stratified two-stage cluster sampling. Final sample sizes were 1,382 in phase 1 and 1,030 in phase 3, of whom 689 children participated in both study years and had oral clinical examination in phase 3. The cultural identity will be assessed by the children’s preferences for friends and clothing in phase 1, using the four strategies of acculturation defined by Berry. In phase 3, DMFT was measured for the full mouth as well as for second molars only, the latter used for longitudinal analysis assuming these were sound in phase 1 of the survey (at time of eruption). Other variables which will be considered in the analysis are demographic characteristics, socio-economic status, language spoken at home and dental behaviours. The association between cultural identity and dental caries will be assessed in count regression models using SPSS software, and the role of demographic, socioeconomic and behavioural factors on this association will be evaluated using sequential modelling.

Results and Conclusion: Data analysis will be conducted between March and May as part of the MSc in Dental Public Health programme that the presenter is currently enrolled in; results will be available by the end of May and, therefore, in time for the conference.