DENTAL-HEALTH KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES AMONG THE MIDDLE-AGED AND THE ELDERLY IN HONG-KONG

Previous studies on adult Hong Kong Chinese have indicated that their level of knowledge of and attitudes toward dental health might be a po tential barrier to effective oral preventive efforts. The knowledge an d attitudes of elderly Chinese have not previously been studied. The o bjectives of this study were to describe Hong Kong adults' knowledge o f the causes of the two main oral diseases, caries and periodontal dis ease, and possible preventive measures, and to analyse possible relati onships between knowledge and attitudes and selected sociodemographic and utilization variables. Two populations aged 35-44 yr (n = 398) and 65-74 yr (n = 559) were selected for the study, which was conducted a s structured interviews. A knowledge score was constructed from questi ons on caries and periodontal disease development and prevention. Atti tudes were measured in the younger group by beliefs and evaluations of those beliefs according to the theory of reasoned action (the higher the score, the more positive the attitude). Knowledge scores were almo st normally distributed in the younger respondents, but were heavily s kewed toward 0 in the older group. In both age groups, increased level of education and regularity or recency of dental visits were strongly associated with dental knowledge. Women, regular dental care users, a nd prevention-oriented respondents had higher attitude scores. There w as no correlation between knowledge and attitudes. Some improvement in knowledge seems to have taken place, especially on the cause of carie s, with fewer 35-44-yr-old respondents claiming lack of knowledge of t he causes of caries and gum disease than in a previous study. In the o lder group, around half of the respondents were unaware of the causes of dental caries and gum disease.