Social capital and dental service use in older Brazilians

• Published in: Gerodontology Vol. 40; no. 3; pp. 334 - 339
• Main Authors: Campagnol, Patrícia Bastianello, Amaral Júnior, Orlando Luiz, Fagundes, Maria Laura Braccini, Menegazzo, Gabriele Rissotto, Neves, Matheus, Maroneze, Marília Cunha, Amaral Giordani, Jessye Melgarejo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 01-09-2023
• Subjects: Aged; Brazil - epidemiology; Cross-Sectional Studies; Dental Care; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Oral Health; Social Capital; social determinants of health; Brazil; aged; social capital; oral health; social determinants of health
• ISSN: 0734-0664; 1741-2358
• DOI: 10.1111/ger.12658

Objectives
To estimate the prevalence of dental services use and its association with social capital among Brazilian older adults.
Background
Health inequities can be explained by the social determinants of health, which are the social, environmental, cultural and behavioural factors that directly or indirectly affect people's health. Among these determinants is social capital, that seem to affect health behaviours, such as use of dental services among older adults.
Materials and methods
This was a cross‐sectional study using baseline data from the Longitudinal Study of the Health of the Brazilian Elderly, nationally representative of people aged 50 years or older. The baseline survey was carried out between 2015 and 2016, using structured questionnaires. The dependent variable was use of dental services in the last year. The main exposure variable was social capital, assessed through two dimensions: structural and cognitive. The covariates used were sex, skin colour, age, education, wealth, need for dental treatment, self‐perception of oral health, tooth loss, type of dental services used, reason for dental care, smoking and alcohol consumption. Descriptive analyses and Poisson regression modelling were used.
Results
The sample consisted of 9323 individuals. The prevalence of dental services use was 32.6% (95% CI: 30.7–34.5). No associations were found between social capital and the use of dental services.
Conclusion
This study did not find an association between structural and cognitive social capital and dental services use in Brazilian older adults. Further researches using instruments with different assessments of social capital are needed.