This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Sanders, A.E. Articles by Slade, G.D. PubMed PubMed Citation Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Affluent Neighborhoods Reduce Excess Risk of Tooth Loss among the Poor

¹ School of Dentistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA;
² Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health (ARCPOH), School of Dentistry, the University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, 5005; and
³ School of Public Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Correspondence: ^* corresponding author, anne.sanders{at}adelaide.edu.au

The effect of neighborhood on health may vary according to the characteristics of the residents. We tested the hypothesis that, in affluent neighborhoods, low-income adults retain more teeth than their income-equivalent peers in poor neighborhoods. In 2003, the Adelaide Small Area Dental Study collected sociodemographic and tooth retention information from 2860 adults in 60 neighborhoods. Neighborhood socio-economic position was a census-based composite measure. Using multilevel modelling, we fitted a series of two-level random intercept variance component models. Findings revealed significant main effects for individual and neighborhood predictors and a significant interaction between neighborhood disadvantage and low income. In affluent areas, disparities in tooth retention were negligible, but in poor neighborhoods, substantial variation in tooth retention between individuals was found based on their level of income. Low-income adults appeared to benefit from living in affluent areas, while wealthier adults living in poor neighborhoods did not lose their oral health advantage.

Key Words: cross-level effect modification • health inequalities • multi-level analysis • neighborhood • tooth retention

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?