Oral Health Practices, Beliefs and Dental Service Utilization of Albanian Immigrants in Milwaukee, Wisconsin: A Pilot Study

Abstract

There is limited information on the oral health of Albanian immigrant population residing in the U.S. This creates a hinderance to developing and implementing appropriate dental care programs for the population. This study investigated oral health practices, beliefs, dental visits and associated factors of Albanian adults living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Purposive and snowball sampling methods were employed. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data on oral health practices, beliefs, dental visits and socio-demographic information. Descriptive and multivariable logistics regression were conducted. Overall, 266 adults were recruited, 54% male, 56% have lived 10 or more years in the U.S., 95% rated their oral health as excellent/good and 87% reported having a dental visit in the last year. Age, ability to speak English, having a usual source of dental care, and reporting excellent/good oral health were associated with having a dental visit in the last year. A substantial number of Albanians adult reported a dental visit in the last year and those that did not write or read in English had lower odds of reporting a dental visit.

Access to Norwegian healthcare system – challenges for sub-Saharan African immigrants

“…Providing health care on equal terms has become a challenge for the health care systems around the world [5,11,12,14,57,58]. This study highlights that SSA immigrant's in Norway face challenges in accessing healthcare services both prior to accessing the healthcare services and when in contact with the healthcare system.…”

“…Access to health care services is often one of the indicators of equity in health care provision [10]. Providing health care on equal terms has become a challenge for the health care system all over the world [11][12][13][14]. Some individuals do not achieve this fairness because of their social position or other socially determined factors, which in essence negatively affect their health and quality of life in general [15].…”

Systematic Review of the Literature on Dental Caries and Periodontal Disease in Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Individuals

“…All four types of socially vulnerable individuals where this outcome was noted showed a high degree of irregular dentist attendance, involving more than half of the participants evaluated. Specifically, this bad habit affected 75%of the homeless ([95% CI 73–76%]; 2530 participants, two studies) [ 67 , 68 ], 66% of pregnant women ([95%CI48–82]; 5103 participants, eight studies, I 2 = 99%) [ 54 , 83 , 84 , 164 , 165 , 166 , 167 , 168 ], 55% of immigrants ([95% CI 21–87%]; 1351 participants, five studies) [ 51 , 169 , 170 , 171 , 172 ] ( Figure 5 ) and 54% of the elderly ([95% CI 43–65%]; 33,430 participants, 19 studies, I 2 = 99.7%) [ 33 , 36 , 41 , 46 , 47 , 90 , 91 , 96 , 97 , 106 , 110 , 116 , 126 , 132 , 139 , 142 , 173 , 174 , 175 ].…”

Immigration and Oral Health in Older Adults: An Integrative Approach

“…Pertinent to the immigration process, relatively abundant studies have examined how cultural beliefs and norms shape oral hygiene practice and dental care use in various countries. Many Albanian American immigrants considered oral health important; 87% had annual dental visits, and 95% rated their oral health as good/excellent (Rota et al 2019). Older immigrants in Sweden were more likely to continue using traditional cleaning methods such as chewing sticks (Olerud et al 2018), whereas they were less likely to perform frequent toothbrushing and use additional oral hygiene aids than their native-born equivalents (Olerud et al 2016).…”