November 7, 2007 -- Hispanic youth report better dental health habits than their non-Hispanic peers, according to a study of northern Manhattan adolescents by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. The study, which is published in the November issue of the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, provides insight into the oral health of the diverse Hispanic community in America.
The study, a snapshot of more than 3,200 children ages 12 to 16, who live in the northern Manhattan communities of Central Harlem and Washington Heights/Inwood, found that 94 percent of the youth responding to the study were Hispanic or black. More then 2,300 of the respondents identified themselves as Hispanic, and the greatest number of the Hispanic adolescents was of Dominican descent. In most national studies of children’s oral health, the data on Hispanics largely reflects Mexican-American youth.
“The study provides important information on the oral health for a Hispanic subgroup other than Mexican Americans, said Luisa N. Borrell, DDS, MPH, assistant professor of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health, and at Columbia University College of Dental Medicine, and co-author of the study. “Studies focusing on other Hispanic subgroups will help us understand the difference within the Hispanic population and underscore the need to examine health outcomes for each Hispanic subgroup whenever data is available,” Dr. Borrell noted.
The study relied on questionnaires filled out by the youth and clinical exams performed during each child’s visit to a school-based dental clinic. Researchers found cavities in 52 percent of the Hispanic participants and 54 percent of the black youth.
“This study may help us define the oral health status of Hispanic subgroups other than Mexican Americans. We still have a lot to learn about what factors are protective for the oral health of these kids, and what will work to improve that health,” observed Dr. Borrell.
Overall, dental health and health promoting habits of the Hispanic children were better than the other participants in the study. Ninety-four percent of Hispanic youths reported that they brush daily compared with 83 percent of blacks and 85 percent of the other children in the study. Hispanic youths were also more likely to floss.
Many more Hispanic youths reported having had a dental visit sometime in their lifetime. Researchers noted moderate-to-abundant plaque in 27 percent of the Hispanic adolescents, compared with 36 percent of blacks and other children in the study.
“The study’s findings need to be interpreted with caution as we did not have information on the education and income of the adolescent participants’ families. Also, we didn’t know what proportion of these children were foreign born, which can be a protective effect for health,” Dr. Borrell said.
The findings are published online at http://www.press.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_health_care_for_the_poor_and_underserved/
About the Mailman School of Public Health
The only accredited school of public health in New York City, and among the first in the nation, Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health provides instruction and research opportunities to more than 950 graduate students in pursuit of masters and doctoral degrees. Its students and more than 300 multi-disciplinary faculty engage in research and service in the city, nation, and around the world, concentrating on biostatistics, environmental health sciences, epidemiology, health policy and management, population and family health, and sociomedical sciences. www.mailman.hs.columbia.edu
Journal
Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved