STABILITY OF DENTAL-HEALTH BEHAVIOR - A 3-YEAR PROSPECTIVE COHORT STUDY OF 15-YEAR-OLD, 16-YEAR-OLD AND 18-YEAR-OLD NORWEGIAN ADOLESCENTS

There is a need for a descriptive epidemiology of patterns of dental h ealth behavior through adolescence. Objectives: The purpose of this st udy was to assess the tracking (degree of stability) of several catego ries of self-reported dental health behavior in adolescence over a 3-y ear period, Methods: In 1992, a representative sample of 970 15-year-o ld adolescents of Hordaland county, Norway, completed questionnaires u nder supervision at school. Postal follow-up studies 1 and 3 years lat er provided 709 and 781 answers, respectively. The present analyses in cluded 581 adolescents who participated on all three occasions and 670 adolescents who replied in 1992 and 1995. Paired sample t-tests, cros s-tabulations and Pearson's correlation coefficients were used to asse ss stability. For use in the cross-tabulations all variables were tran sformed into binary categories (active and inactive). Results: A subst antial proportion of adolescents remained consistently in the same beh avioral category for all 3 survey years. Toothbrushing (80%) and use o f dental floss (64%) were the most stable activities, while consumptio n of sugared mineral water (53%), intake of chocolate/sweets (52%) and use of F-rinse (54%) were less stable. However, Pearson's correlation s between corresponding behaviors assessed in 1992 and 1995 were moder ate and varied from 0.59 (toothbrushing) to 0.22 (F-rinse) (P<0.001). Conclusion: The results do not conclusively indicate a pattern of trac king. The tendency is, however, clear enough to support the assumption that dental health behavior continues during adolescence into adultho od.