Oral health knowledge, beliefs and behaviour among adult men and women aged 35-65 years in an urban area in Magway region, Myanmar

Abstract

To aim of this study was to assess oral health knowledge, beliefs and behaviour among adult men and women aged 35-65 years in an urban area in Magway region, Myanmar.
In a cross-sectional community survey, 633 men (55%) and women (45%), aged 35-65 years, selected by multi-stage random sampling, responded to a structured questionnaire on oral health and socio-demographic information. Results indicate that 55.2% of men and 61.4% of women reported cleaning their teeth twice or more times daily, over 80% of both men and women used toothpaste with fluoride and less than 13% received dental health care services within the past 12 months. More women than men had an overall high score on the total oral health practices. In adjusted logistic regression analysis among both men and women higher education and higher income, among men, younger age and high-perceived benefits beliefs of preventive practices and among women, poorer oral health status, higher oral health knowledge and lower perceived barriers to dental services were associated with a higher number of oral health practices. Oral health practices were found to be sub-optimal and various risk factors were identified that can be used to guide intervention to improve oral health behaviour among men and women in Myanmar.

Keywords: Oral health behaviours, knowledge, beliefs, adults, gender, Myanmar