Oral health literacy, oral health behaviours and dental outcomes

Jacky Burns, Niall McGoldrick, Morag Muir

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Data sources Eight electronic databases were searched: Medline (through PubMed), ISI Web of Science, Scopus, The Cochrane Library, National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, Lilacs and the Brazilian Library of Dentistry, Controlled-trials database of Clinical Trials and Clinical Trials-US National Institute of Health. A grey literature search was also conducted and reference lists of included studies were interrogated. 

Study selection Inclusion criteria were studies which examined the relationship between oral health literacy and one of the pre-defined outcomes including oral health behaviours, perception, knowledge and dental treatment outcomes. Epidemiological studies (such a case-control, cohort, cross-sectional and clinical trials) were included but qualitative studies, systematic reviews and those which examined unrelated outcomes were excluded. 

Data extraction and synthesis Two independent reviewers carried out screening, risk of bias assessment and data extraction for all studies against pre-agreed inclusion and exclusion criteria. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (a modified version for cross-sectional studies) and the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool were used for quality appraisal. A narrative synthesis was presented, with meta-analysis of a small sub-group of studies relating to one outcome. 

Results Twenty-five studies were included in the final review; 21 cross-sectional, two cohort, one case-control and one clinical trial. Most (17) were considered to be at high risk of bias and there was a high degree of clinical and methodological heterogeneity. No evidence was found of a significant association between oral health literacy and the outcomes considered. 

Conclusions The authors concluded that the current scientific evidence suggests that no association exists between oral health literacy and any of the outcomes investigated. Further prospective studies with high methodological quality are needed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)69-70
Number of pages2
JournalEvidence-Based Dentistry
Volume19
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 26 Oct 2018

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Dentistry

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Oral health literacy, oral health behaviours and dental outcomes'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this