Predictors of Oral Health Literacy and Intention of Dental Service Utilisation Among People with Type 2 Diabetes

Abstract

Diabetes is a risk factor for periodontal disease. Oral health literacy and the intention to seek dental care among individuals with diabetes contribute to their utilization of dental services for the prevention of oral health problems. This cross-sectional prospective study examined predictors of oral health literacy and intention of dental service utilisation among 176 people with type 2 diabetes. The research instrument was a questionnaire consisting of 1) general information, 2) social support, 3) health media use, 4) oral health literacy, and 5) intention of dental service utilisation. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, multiple regression, and logistic regression analysis.

The study results found that people with type 2 diabetes had a moderate level of oral health literacy and intended to seek dental services if they had oral health problems at 56.80 %. The personal characteristics were found to be gender, age, and education level. The situational factors were internet access, social support, and health media use which significantly predicted oral health literacy (p < .01). Moreover, social support, health media use, and age were statistically significant predictors of oral health literacy in type 2 diabetes patients. The results of the logistic regression analysis found that personal characteristic factors, situational factors, social support, health media use, and oral health literacy explained 51.1% of the chance of intention to seek dental services. In addition, gender, education level, social support, and oral health literacy were found to have statistically significantly influences on the intention to seek dental services (p < .05). Women had 3.237 times more intention to receive dental services than men. People with a higher education level than primary school had 3.874 times more intention to receive dental services than people with a lower education level. Those with higher social support scores had a 1.157 times increase in their intention to seek dental services, while those who had higher oral health literacy scores had a 1.093 times increase in the chance of having the intention to seek dental services when controlling for risk of periodontitis and duration of diabetes.

The study results can be used as information to develop guidelines for the care of people with type 2 diabetes to promote oral health literacy by encouraging family members, friends, and health care providers to participate as supporters in the use of health media. These supporters should be able to assess and select appropriate health information formats according to individual abilities and place importance on increasing oral health literacy levels.