Sources of oral self-care information among Lithuanian dentate elderly patients

Objectives: To investigate sources of oral self-care information and their relation to perceived oral health among dentate elderly patients in Lithuania. Methods: The cross-sectional data were collected from two public dental offices in Kédainiai, Lithuania. Dentate patients aged 60 years and older were asked to fill in a two-page questionnaire. The respondents were to tick each source of information used from a list of 15 named sources, and to assess their own oral health on a 5-grade scale ranging from excellent to very poor. Patient's age, gender, and level of education served as background information. Statistical evaluation was by Chi square test and ANOVA. Results: In total, 174 dentate seniors responded; 53% were men. Mean age was 69.2 years (SD 6.6; median 68.6; max 84.6). None of these patients reported excellent oral health; 18% assessed their oral health as being moderate or good, 36% poor, and 46% very poor. The main source of information was dentists (82%), followed by friends (64%), relatives (59%), television (57%), printed advertisments (31%), radio (28%), newspapers (26%), magazines (24%), and physicians (21%). Patients with higher education reported more frequently newspapers (p=0.002) and magazines (p=0.02) as sources of information. Those giving a higher rating of perceived oral health named more frequently printed advertisments (p<0.0001) and newspapers (p=0.004) as sources of information. Mean number of sources was 4.0 (2.1); one respondent named no source, 9% gave one, 40% 2 to 3, 37% 4 to 6, and 22% 7 to 10 sources. A higher number of information sources was related to the age being below 70 years (p=0.02), to higher level of education (p=0.002) and to higher rating of perceived oral health (p=0.02). Conclusion: Dentists appeared as main informants. Printed sources emerged important among the elderly with higher education and rating of self- perceived oral health.