Health Behaviors and Self-Reported Oral Health among Centenarians in Nanjing, China: A Cross-Sectional Study

The rosetta stone of successful ageing: does oral health have a role?

Ageing is an inevitable aspect of life and thus successful ageing is an important focus of recent scientific efforts. The biological process of ageing is mediated through the interaction of genes with environmental factors, increasing the body's susceptibility to insults. Elucidating this process will increase our ability to prevent and treat age-related disease and consequently extend life expectancy. Notably, centenarians offer a unique perspective on the phenomenon of ageing. Current research highlights several age-associated alterations on the genetic, epigenetic and proteomic level. Consequently, nutrient sensing and mitochondrial function are altered, resulting in inflammation and exhaustion of regenerative ability.Oral health, an important contributor to overall health, remains underexplored in the context of extreme longevity. Good masticatory function ensures sufficient nutrient uptake, reducing morbidity and mortality in old age. The relationship between periodontal disease and systemic inflammatory pathologies is well established. Diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and cardiovascular disease are among the most significant disease burdens influenced by inflammatory oral health conditions. Evidence suggests that the interaction is bi-directional, impacting progression, severity and mortality. Current models of ageing and longevity neglect an important factor in overall health and well-being, a gap that this review intends to illustrate and inspire avenues for future research.

Adverse Childhood Experiences and Oral Health Conditions Among Middle-aged and Older Chinese Adults: Exploring the Moderating Roles of Education and Gender

This study aims to examine whether adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with oral health conditions (denture use, difficulty in chewing, and edentulism) among middle-aged and older adults in China and if gender and adulthood education moderate the associations. Data were obtained from the 2014 and 2018 surveys from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (N = 17,091) and logistic regressions were carried out. Results show that childhood hunger (OR = 1.12), loneliness (OR = 1.10) and family relations (OR = 1.07) were significantly associated with higher odds of denture use and there were significant associations between hunger (OR = 1.16) and difficulty in chewing. For the female subsample, education significantly moderated the adverse effect of childhood hunger on denture use and difficulty in chewing. Findings suggest that ACEs have long-lasting impacts on oral health conditions in later life and adulthood education might offer critical resources for females, helping them buffer the detrimental health impacts of ACEs.

Assessment of the oral health literacy and oral health behaviors among nurses in China: a cross-sectional study

PURPOSE

Oral health is important for general health; nurses are expected to possess good oral health awareness and work together for public oral health promotion. The purpose of this study is to investigate oral health literacy (OHL)and oral health behaviors of nurses, and explore the association between oral health literacy with demographic variables and oral health behaviors.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study in a tertiary hospital was conducted using a short-form Health Literacy in Dentistry-14 (HeLD-14) and a 16-items oral health behaviors questionnaire. Information about the subjects' demographic details including age, gender, place of residence, marital status, marital status, education level, monthly household income, working experience, etc. were collected. Independent sample t- test, One- way ANOVA, and multivariable regression were used to identify the association of oral health literacy with demographic variables and oral health behaviors.

RESULTS

A total number of 317 nursing nurses participated in the survey, with a mean OHL score of 36.72, SD10.531, 21.8% were categorized as good, 34.1% medium and 44.2% poor oral health literacy; monthly household income, self-rated oral health, brushing time, use of fluoride toothpaste, and regular oral examination were signficantly associated with OHL scores.

CONCLUSION

The overall oral health literacy of the nurse population is at a moderate to low level. These findings may help to map and design an oral health education intervention to improve oral health literacy amongst nurses, especially nurses with low monthly household income and poor self-assessed oral health status. Nursing administrators and nursing educators should pay more attention to the oral health status of the nurse population.

The Influence of Robot-Assisted Learning System on Health Literacy and Learning Perception

Healthy aging is a new challenge for the world. Therefore, health literacy education is a key issue in the current health care field. This research has developed a robot-assisted learning system to explore the possibility of significantly improving health literacy and learning perception through interaction with robots. In particular, this study adopted an experimental design, in which the experiment lasted for 90 min. A total of 60 participants over the age of 50 were randomly assigned to different learning modes. The RobotLS group learned by interacting with robots, while the VideoLS group watched health education videos on a tablet computer. The content dealt with hypertension related issues. This study used the European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q16), Health Knowledge Questionnaire, Reduced Instructional Materials Motivation Survey (RIMMS), and Flow Scale as evaluation tools. The result shows no significant difference in the pre-test scores between the two groups. Compared with the video-assisted learning system, the robot-assisted learning system can significantly improve health knowledge, health literacy, learning motivation, and flow perception. According to the findings of this study, a robot-assisted learning system can be introduced in the future into homes and care institutions to enhance the health literacy of the elderly.