Oral-Health-Related Self-Efficacy among the Elderly Population in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Oral health self-efficacy is a fundamental determinant of behavioral changes among elderly patients. Objective: To assess the oral self-efficacy among the Saudi population aged 65 years old and above in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional survey conducted on elderly individuals in Riyadh. An Arabic version of the Geriatric Self-Efficacy Scale for Oral Health (GSEOH) was administered to all participants. The dependent variables included oral function, oral hygiene habits, and dental visits. For the statistical analysis, two independent sample t-tests and a one-way ANOVA test were used. Significance was judged at a p-value less than 0.05. Results: Of 400 participants recruited, 53% were males. About 58% had retained teeth, and 72% had visited a dentist in the past 12 months. Overall, 31.6%, 34.64%, 22.65%, and 11.14% of the participants rated their oral health as good, fairly good, rather poor, and poor, respectively. Age (p < 0.001), educational level (p < 0.001), and working status (p < 0.001) were significantly associated with GSEOH scores. Other sociodemographic characteristics were not found to affect the GSEOH scores. Conclusions: The overall self-efficacy of oral health among Saudi elderly individuals is fairly good. Age, educational level, and occupational status are the main determinants of oral health self-efficacy scores.

Evaluation of the relationship between GOHAI, MNA and the dental hygiene of using denture wearers for older patients

“…Vozza et al 34 reported that decreased chewing strength might lead to softer foods for feeding, leading to malnutrition, inadequate protein intake or increased body mass index. Kshetrimayum et al, in their study in India, Anweigi et al, in their research in Saudi Arabia, declared that there is a critical link between oral health, nutrition and quality of life in the elderly 35,36 …”

“…Kshetrimayum et al, in their study in India, Anweigi et al, in their research in Saudi Arabia, declared that there is a critical link between oral health, nutrition and quality of life in the elderly. 35,36 The study has some limitations due to the absence of a representative sample. Patients were recruited at a dental and medical clinic to expand the number of patients and to enable the selection of patients undergoing different prosthetic treatments.…”

Effect of perioperative cognitive behavioral interventions on pain, anxiety, and sleep quality in elderly patients after sinus floor elevation and immediate implantation: A randomized controlled trial

“…In China, more and more elderly patients require tooth restorations owing to the intensification of the aging trend [ 1 ]. Moreover, improved living standards and increased public health awareness have led to a surge in the demand for high-quality oral restorations in elderly patients with missing teeth [ 2 ]. In recent years, implant restoration has gradually become the first choice for restoring missing teeth in elderly patients owing to its properties, such as improved comfort and masticatory efficiency [ 3 ].…”

Variables associated with oral health-related self-efficacy – results of a cross-sectional study

“…Since strengthening perceived self-efficacy is a well-established mechanism for improving health and health-related behaviors [ 7 , 8 , 11 , 23 , 24 ] in a wide variety of diseases [ 12 , 25 , 26 ], improving OH-SE might also be a promising approach in the context of oral health. Recent research has also documented a protective effect of more pronounced OH-SE on oral health, suggesting that strengthening OH-SE might reduce oral health-related problems in the future [ 3 , 13 , 14 , 27 ].…”

“…Measuring OH-SE comes with some challenges, as related scales mostly address specific behaviors (e.g. toothbrushing, flossing) or aim at capturing this construct in specific populations [ 3 , 13 , 14 , 27 , 31 ]. Because these measurements seemed inappropriate for our population, we followed Bandura’s original definition [ 7 ] and developed a new question (see methods section) to capture OH-SE.…”