Fatores associados à autopercepção de saúde bucal e ao edentulismo funcional em idosos quilombolas

Abstract

Introduction: The world has experienced an exponential increase in the elderly population and in life expectancy. These elderly people have specific health care demands, which are even more evident among brazilians quilombola elderly people, who commonly live in rural areas and have low levels of education and income; aspects that contribute to greater vulnerability, mainly with regard to health indicators. Studies related to the health of these individuals are scarce, especially with regard to their oral health conditions. Objective: To evaluate the factors associated with self-perceived oral health and functional edentulism in quilombola elderly people. Material and methods: The population of this cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study was made up of all the elderly in the quilombola community of Caiana dos Crioulos. Individuals aged 60 or over, of both sexes were included; and those who, due to any pathological condition, could not open their mouths for exams and those who showed cognitive decline, were excluded. The study was carried out in accordance with Resolution 466/2012 of the National Health Council of the Ministry of Health. The variables evaluated were self- perceived oral health, functional edentulism, socioeconomic-demographic factors (gender, age group, education, income family, marital status and cohabitation), oral health condition (number of teeth, presence of removable prosthesis, need for prosthesis, DMFT and community periodontal index) and sense of coherence. The Chi-square test or Fisher's Exact Test, Mann-Whitney and Poisson Regression were performed with robust variance, always considering a 95% Confidence Index (CI) and significance level of p <0.05. Results: 47 elderly quilombolas participated in the study, with a mean age of 71 years (SD = + / - 7.55). Among the elderly studied, 55.3% self-perceived oral health as “bad” and 63.8% presented functional edentulism (less than 20 teeth present). The prevalence of self-perceived poor oral health was higher among those who needed dental prosthesis (PR = 1.523; 95% CI = 1,258 – 1,845), than among those who did not have such a need. As for functional edentulism, the elderly with lower income had a higher prevalence of the outcome (PR = 1.149; 95% CI = 1.007 - 1.311) than the elderly with higher income and as for the sense of coherence (SOC), elderly with weak SOC had a higher prevalence functional edentulism (PR = 1.332 95% CI = 1.043 - 1.701) when compared to elderly people with a strong SOC. Conclusion: This study showed that among quilombola elderly people the need for a prosthesis is associated with self-perceived oral health and that income and a sense of coherence are associated with functional edentulism. The findings corroborate the concept that the use of prostheses seems to benefit the maintenance of a good self-perception of oral health in quilombola elderly people, as well as income and a sense of strong coherence may be important for the maintenance of teeth in these elderly people