The effectiveness of an oral hygiene program combined with health-promoting counseling for rural adults with cardiometabolic risks: A quasi-experimental design

Oral health community engagement programs for rural communities: A scoping review

This scoping review aims to identify the available literature on oral health community engagement programs that have been developed to guide oral health care in rural communities and to summarize their outcomes. This review was conducted using the 5-stage scoping review framework outlined by Arksey and O'Malley. We conducted a literature search with defined eligibility criteria through electronic databases such as Science Direct, PubMed, ProQuest, Scopus, EBSCOhost, and Wiley Online; other well-established online scientific health and dental organizations such as the WHO, the Fédération Dentaire Internationale of the World Dental Federation, the American Dental Association, and the South African Dental Association; and grey literature spanning the time interval from January 2012 to August 2023. The charted data were classified, analysed, and reported using descriptive and thematic analyses. A total of 19 records were included in the final review. These records were classified into four categories of interventions: community-based, school-based, integrated dental-based, and non-dental volunteer oral health programs. The findings imply that there is a growing appreciation for the significance of qualitative data in enhancing oral healthcare interventions and outcomes. Furthermore, the study showed that oral health strategies were successful in shaping the understanding and perception of oral health among children and mothers/caregivers, and in improving the oral health and quality of life of edentulous older adults and children living in rural communities.

Association between serum carcinoembryonic antigen and cardiometabolic risks: Implication for cardiometabolic prevention

BACKGROUND

Serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is a biomarker commonly used to detect colorectal cancer. CEA levels are affected by many factors, including cardiometabolic diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and diabetes. Cardiometabolic diseases and cancer share a similar pathological inflammatory pathway, which correlates with an unhealthy lifestyle. Hence, establishing an adequate CEA cut-off value might be a valuable reference for developing precision healthcare programs for cardiometabolic disease prevention. This study aimed to investigate the association between cardiometabolic risks and serum CEA and the underlying factors.

METHODS

A community-based, cross-sectional study was conducted between March and December 2021 on the western coast of Taiwan. Lifestyle data were assessed using a structured questionnaire. The cardiometabolic biomarkers, serum CEA, urine malondialdehyde, and 1-hydroxypyrene were quantified by the central laboratory of the collaborating hospital. Chi-square and binary multivariable logistic regression implemented in R version 4.0.2 were used to identify factors defining the risk of high serum CEA levels.

RESULTS

A total of 6,295 adult residents without cancer-related diseases completed the study. The mean age was 48.6 (SD = 16.4) years, 56% were female, 32% had metabolic syndrome, and 23% and 10% had CVDs and diabetes, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression showed that age ≥ 65 years, male sex, alcohol consumption, smoking, infrequent use of dental floss, fewer remaining teeth, CVDs, diabetes, and oxidative stress were significantly associated with serum CEA ≥ 3 ng/mL. The discriminatory performance of the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.75 (0.73-0.76), showing that this model was suitable for distinguishing high CEA levels.

CONCLUSION

Our findings highlight the importance of understanding cardiometabolic diseases, unhealthy lifestyles, and oxidative stress, which contribute to high serum CEA. This study demonstrates that CEA, a well-known tumor marker, can help the early detection and prevention of cardiometabolic diseases via personalized lifestyle modification.