[Association of oral health literacy and behaviour with physical oral health. What role can dental education play?]

BACKGROUND

Oral health is an essential component of a person's general health and well-being. It is influenced by many factors. These include individual aspects such as oral health literacy and oral health behaviour. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between oral health literacy and behaviour with physical oral health.

METHODS

In this population-based cross-sectional study, data of 5510 subjects enrolled in the Hamburg City Health Study (HCHS) from 2016 to 2018 with a mean age of 62.1 years and 50.7% women were evaluated. Physical oral health was assessed using the 14-item Physical Oral Health Index (PhOX). A newly developed 10-item questionnaire based on the Oral Health Literacy Adult Questionnaire and the 5th German Oral Health Study were used to determine oral health literacy and behaviour.

RESULTS

The sum score of the 10 questions related to oral health literacy and behaviour significantly correlated with the PhOX sum score (r = 0.23; p < 0.001). An increase of one point in the total score of oral health literacy and behaviour was associated with an increase in the PhOX sum score of 1.45 points on average. This association decreased only marginally after integrating potential confounders such as age and education.

CONCLUSION

Higher oral health literacy and better oral health behaviour are associated with better physical oral health. Oral health literacy and behaviour should be important targets in dental education to efficiently and sustainably improve the oral health of the general population.

[Evoked otoacoustic emissions as a screening test for hearing evaluation in newborn and premature infants?]

The purpose of this study was the evaluation of evoked otoacoustic emissions (EOAE) for the screening of infant hearing. EOAE and brainstem-evoked response audiometry (BERA) were performed in 40 infants at a special care unit at the Universitäts-Klinik, Göttingen. Both examinations were performed under non-optimal conditions, reflecting a realistic screening situation. The purpose was to determine robust analysis criteria and possible error sources. A comparison of both tests shows that sensitivity and specificity are insufficient for reliable screening. The EOAE test does not yield the threshold of hearing. There is no sharp boundary with the BERA threshold for the detectability of an EOAE. Sensitivity and specificity have not been accurately determined so far due to the relatively small number of infants with impaired hearing tested. Nevertheless, the results show that EOAE should be applied as a supplement to conventional audiometry for infants. It is capable of excluding conductive and severe cochlear hearing losses and is by itself not a reliable screening test.