Oral hygiene: a question of gender?
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was designed with a sample of 447 adolescents aged 12 to 19 years old, attending a public school in Sátão, Portugal. A self-administered questionnaire about socio-demographic factors, daily habits and oral health behaviours was answered by adolescents in the classroom. Prevalence was expressed in proportions and crude odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to measure the strength of association between oral health behaviours and socio-demographic factors. Proportions were compared by the Chi-square test.
RESULTS: The prevalence of toothbrushing (twice-a-day or more) was 90.6%, more frequent among the female gender (female, OR=3.65 95%, CI=1.85-7.18, p<0.001). Five point eight percent of adolescents reported daily flossing, more frequent among female gender (female, OR=2.03 95%CI=1.35-3.05) and adolescents older than 15 years (> 15 years, OR=1.90 95%CI=1.24-2.92). The prevalence of dental appointments was associated with the father´s professional situation (unemployed, OR=0.33 95%CI=0.17-0.65) and crowding index (>1, OR=0.4 95%CI=0.16-0.98). Thirty-two point nine percent of adolescents refer having at least one episode of dental pain during their lives and was associated with gender (female, OR=2.21 95%CI=1.44-3.40). After adjustment by non-conditional logistic regression for age, parents´educational level, father´s professional situation and residence area, gender was associated with toothbrushing twice-a-day or more (OR=1.62 95%CI=1.21-2.70).
CONCLUSIONS: Differences in oral health behaviours were verified among male and female gender. Oral health community programs and primary preventive strategies, such as improvement of oral health education in schools should be considered in order to decrease the differences of health related behaviours among genders.