Background
Daily oral hygiene and regular dental visits are important components of oral health care. The authors’ objective in this study was to examine women's oral hygiene practices and use of dental services during pregnancy.
Methods
The authors developed a written oral health questionnaire and administered it to 599 pregnant women. They collected demographic information, as well as data on oral hygiene practices and use of dental services during pregnancy. They used χ2 and multivariable logistic regression models to assess associations between oral hygiene practice and dental service use during pregnancy and to identify maternal predictor variables.
Results
Of the 599 participants, 83 percent (n = 497) reported brushing once or twice per day. Twenty-four percent (n = 141) reported flossing at least once daily; Hispanic women were more likely to floss than were white or African American women (28 percent [52 of 183] versus 22 percent [54 of 248] versus 19 percent [23 of 121], respectively, P < .001). Seventy-four percent (n = 442) of the participants reported having received no routine dental care during pregnancy. Hispanic women were significantly less likely than were black or white women to receive routine dental care during pregnancy (13 percent versus 21 percent versus 36 percent, respectively, P < .001). The authors found that being older than 36 years, being of Hispanic race or ethnicity, having an annual income of less than $30,000, flossing infrequently and receiving no dental care when not pregnant were significantly associated with lack of routine dental care during pregnancy (adjusted odds ratios, 95 percent confidence intervals: 2.56 [1.33-4.92]; 2.19 [1.11-4.29]; 2.02 [1.12-3.65]; 1.86 [1.13-3.07]; and 4.35 [2.5-7.69], respectively). A woman's lack of receiving routine dental care when not pregnant was the most significant predictor of lack of receiving dental care during pregnancy.
Conclusion
Racial, ethnic and economic disparities related to oral hygiene practices and dental service utilization during pregnancy exist.
Clinical Implications
Medical and dental care providers who treat women of reproductive age and pregnant women need to develop policy strategies to address this population's access barriers to, and use of, dental care services.
This article details a 3‐year outdoor behavioral health care outcome study. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze data from 186 young adults in a wilderness therapy program. Participants completed the Outcome Questionnaire–45.2 (Lambert et al., ) 6 times from Week 1 to 18‐month postdischarge follow‐up. Results indicated that clinically and statistically significant change occurred in treatment. Rates of change varied, and posttreatment scores remained stable, thus demonstrating that in‐treatment gains were maintained. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.
Over the last decade, wilderness therapy research has increased substantially in both quality and quantity and has begun to establish a base of evidence and literature. However, there is still much to be learned about the clients served and their clinical profile. The authors examined diagnostic data from discharge summaries of 929 clients (192 young adults and 737 adolescents) who enrolled in wilderness therapy at four sites across the nation. We explored trends and differences in primary diagnosis and overall prevalence of disorders according to gender and age. Central themes emerged such as the pervasiveness of substance issues, the overwhelming impact of Mood Disorders, and the clinical complexity of wilderness therapy clients. How these findings fit in with industry trends are discussed, as well as the conceptualization of behavioral issues from adolescent to adult populations, variances between adults and adolescents, and gender differences.
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