Acculturation and a Potential Relationship with Oral Health Outcomes Among Somali Refugees in Massachusetts.
This paper explores the relationship between acculturation and oral health in a study of Somali refugees. This cross-sectional survey included structured surveys and dental examinations of a convenience sample of 439 Somali adults living in Massachusetts. Associations between an acculturation scale and: (1) lifetime history of caries and (2) access to oral health services were calculated. In bivariate analyses, many individual questions in the scale were associated with outcomes. In multivariate analysis, speaking English (OR 0.5, CI 0.28-0.84) was associated with better access to, and utilization of, dental health services while reading American books and newspapers in English was associated with increased lifetime history of dental disease (OR 2.6, CI 1.1-6.0). As specific elements of acculturation have different relationships with oral health among Somali refugees, a summary acculturation scale may have limited utility. Ongoing efforts to remove language barriers may improve oral health.
['Hunter-Adams|Jo|J|', 'Cochran|Jennifer|J|', 'Laird|Lance D|LD|', 'Paasche-Orlow|Michael K|MK|', 'Geltman|Paul L|PL|']
D000069:Acculturation D000293:Adolescent D000328:Adult D000367:Age Factors D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies D003729:Dental Care D003731:Dental Caries D005260:Female D006297:Health Services Accessibility D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008404:Massachusetts D008875:Middle Aged D009909:Oral Health D009910:Oral Hygiene D012036:Refugees D012737:Sex Factors D012959:Socioeconomic Factors D012998:Somalia D055815:Young Adult
Acculturation Oral health Refugee health Somali health status