Edentulism and associated factors in people 60 years and over from urban, rural and remote Western Australia

• Published in: Australian dental journal Vol. 48; no. 1; pp. 10 - 14
• Main Authors: Adams, C., Slack‐Smith, LM, Larson, A., O'Grady, MJ
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-03-2003
• Subjects: Age Factors; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Cohort Studies; Cross-Sectional Studies; Dentistry; Edentulism; Educational Status; Female; Humans; Logistic Models; Male; Middle Aged; Mouth, Edentulous - epidemiology; Occupations - statistics & numerical data; Prevalence; rural; Rural Health - statistics & numerical data; Sex Factors; Statistics, Nonparametric; survey; Urban Health - statistics & numerical data; Western Australia - epidemiology; Western Australia
• ISSN: 0045-0421; 1834-7819
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1834-7819.2003.tb00002.x

Background: Edentulism is declining in the aged, in turn increasing demand on dental services. The aim of this study was to describe the pattern of edentulism and associated factors for people 60 years or over in urban, rural and remote Western Australia.
Methods: A cross‐sectional telephone interview survey was conducted of 2100 people aged 60 years or over (urban n=800, rural n=800, remote n=500), identified through the State Electoral Roll, who were living in non‐institutionalized accommodation in Western Australia and who were able to speak English sufficiently well to be interviewed in English.
Results: The main outcome measure was edentulism. The prevalence of edentulism was 25 per cent for people in urban areas, 34 per cent for people in rural areas and 32 per cent for people in remote areas. Respondents aged 60–69 years had less than half the edentulism than respondents aged 80 years or over. Multivariable logistic regression models showed geographic location, age, gender, education and occupation were significantly associated with edentulism.
Conclusions: The percentage of edentulism was highest in rural areas with some clear demographic trends. These future aged cohorts are likely to follow the same patterns of social and geographic disadvantage as found for the current edentate cohort. The results were consistent with other studies while providing state level multivariate results to assist service planning.