| 3927 Neighborhood Socioeconomic Conditions’ Effect on General and Oral Health Perception | ||
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L.N. BORRELL1, G.W. TAYLOR2, W. BORGNAKKE2, M. WOOLFOLK2, and L. NYQUIST3, 1Columbia University, New York, NY, USA, 2University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA, 3University of Michigan Objectives: Existing research supports an association between neighborhood characteristics and self-rated general health (GH). However, no studies have explored an association between self-rated oral health (OH) and neighborhood characteristics in the US. Methods: This study investigates the independent and joint effects of personal income and neighborhood socioeconomic conditions (SES) on GH and OH before and after controlling for traditional risk factors in a representative sample of adults aged 18+ years (N=535) residing in the Detroit tri-county area, Michigan. Perceptions of GH and OH, respectively, were assessed asking: "Would you say your health in general is excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor?” and “Overall, would you rate the health of your mouth, teeth, and gums, as excellent, good, fair or poor?” SUDAAN was used to accommodate the complex sampling design and the correlation of outcomes within the same neighborhoods. Results: Whites in disadvantaged neighborhoods were 4X more likely to rate their OH as fair/poor (OR:4.0;95%CI:1.6-10.3) than their counterparts in advantaged neighborhoods. There was no significant analogous association for African Americans (AA). When evaluating the joint effects of personal income and neighborhood SES, low-income whites in disadvantaged neighborhoods were 6X more likely to rate their OH as fair/poor (OR:6.4;95%CI:1.6-26.5) than their high-income counterparts in advantaged neighborhoods. The odds of rating GH as fair/poor was 6X greater in low-income AA in disadvantaged neighborhoods (OR:6.1;95%CI:1.6-23.8) than high-income AA in advantaged neighborhoods. Similarly, low-income AA in disadvantaged neighborhoods were almost 3X (OR:2.8;95%CI:1.0-8.1) more likely to rate their OH as fair/poor than high-income AA in advantaged neighborhoods. Conclusions: Neighborhood-level effects, independent or joint with individual-level effects, appear to be important in evaluating racial/ethnic differences in self-rated oral health. Neighborhood conditions could tap into constructs not captured by individual-level variables on self-rated oral health. Supported by NIDR Grant DE10145 and Calderone Junior Faculty Award. | ||
| Seq #397 - Epidemiology and Service Utilization 12:30 PM-2:30 PM, Saturday, 13 March 2004 Hawaii Convention Center 323-A | ||
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