社區中老年人口腔健康識能及其相關因素之初探

Abstract

背景: 口腔健康問題取決於許多因素，如口腔健康識能，然過去調查發現臺灣成人對於正確之口腔保健觀念及相關知識技能有待加強，透過口腔健康識能能夠以不同面向來探索民眾獲得、處理和理解基本口腔健康訊息，並做出合宜健康決策之能力。

目的: 瞭解社區中老年人口腔健康識能並探討其相關因素。

方法: 採橫斷式研究設計，以方便取樣選取符合選樣標準之社區中老年人共計263位，研究工具為口腔健康識能量表（Oral Health Literacy-Adult Questionnaire）及人口學變項問卷，以皮爾森相關積差、獨立樣本t檢定以及單因子變異數分析進行統計分析。

結果: 本研究指出民眾在閱讀理解能力方面的平均得分最低，顯示民眾在閱讀理解以及口腔相關健康知識上仍需加強；而年齡越大，口腔健康識能越差，教育程度與經濟狀況較佳者其口腔健康識能越佳，口腔健康識能越優者會選擇合適自己的口腔清潔工具。

結論／實務應用: 社區中老年人之口腔健康識能仍有進步的空間，特別是閱讀理解能力，本研究結果可提供口腔衛生專業人員及社區護理人員日後計畫及推行口腔衛生教育活動之參考。

Background: Oral health literacy is one of the factors known to affect oral health. The results of prior studies indicate that Taiwanese lack accurate oral health knowledge and skills. Assessing the understanding of Taiwanese of the various aspects of oral health literacy is necessary to explore their ability to access, process, and understand basic oral health information and to make informed health decisions. Purpose: To understand the oral health literacy of mid-aged and older adults living in the community and to identify the related factors that significantly affect their oral health literacy. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on a convenience sample of 263 mid-aged and older adults living in the community. Each participant completed a demographics datasheet and the Oral Health Literacy-Adult Questionnaire. The survey data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t test, one-way analysis of variance test, and Pearson's correlation. Results: The reading comprehension domain earned the lowest average score, indicating that reading comprehension of oral-health-related information should be strengthened in the mid-age/older population. Age was negatively associated with oral health literacy, while educational level and financial status was positively associated with oral health literacy. Furthermore, the participants who scored higher in oral health literacy were better able to accurately choose the oral hygiene tools that best suited their needs. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that strategies aiming to promote oral health literacy among community-dwelling mid-aged and older adults should focus particularly on strengthening reading comprehension abilities and on those of older age, lower education level, and lower financial status.