Title
Comparing lifecourse models of social class and adult oral health using the 1958 national child development study
Date Issued
01 March 2015
Access level
metadata only access
Resource Type
journal article
Publisher(s)
Dennis Barber Ltd
Abstract
Objective: To identify the lifecourse model that best describes the association between social class and adult oral health. Methods: Data from 10,217 participants of the 1958 National Child Development Study were used. Social class at ages 7, 16 and 33 years were chosen to represent socioeconomic conditions during childhood, adolescence and adulthood, respectively. Two subjective oral health indicators (lifetime and past-year prevalence of persistent trouble with gums or mouth) were measured at age 33. The critical period, accumulation and social trajectories models were tested in logistic regression models and the most appropriate lifecourse model was identified using the structured modelling approach. Results: The critical period model showed that only adulthood social class was significantly associated with oral health. For the accumulation model, a monotonic gradient was found between the number of periods in manual social class and oral health; and four out of eight social trajectories were found to be distinctive. Finally, the social trajectories model was not significantly different from the saturated model indicating that it provided a good fit to the data. Conclusion: This study shows the social trajectories model was the most appropriate, in terms of model fit, to describe the association between social class and oral health.
Start page
20
End page
25
Volume
32
Issue
1
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Políticas de salud, Servicios de salud Odontología, Cirugía oral, Medicina oral
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-84925064744
PubMed ID
Source
Community Dental Health
ISSN of the container
0265539X
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus