Daniel Blay|Anne Nordrehaug Åstrøm|Ola Haugejorden
Oral hygiene and sugar consumption among urban and rural adolescents in Ghana
University of Bergen|University of Bergen|University of Bergen
purpose study compare categories selfreported oral health behavior among adolescents raised urban rural areas ghanasecond year students n583 aged 1418 years selected five secondary schools awutueffutu senya district using stratified random sampling procedure total 504 86 students completed questionnaires supervision schoolcrosstabulation analyses revealed urban rural residents 97 96 reported daily tooth brushing whereas small moderate proportions reported use toothpicks intake sugared snacks respectively multiple logistic regression analyses controlling gender parents education showed socioregional context urbanrural significantly related intake cakesbiscuits odds ratio or26 95 ci 1744 chocolatesweets or35 95 ci 2060 use toothpicks or26 95 ci 1355 indicating true differences urban rural residentsas predicted urban residents likely rural counterparts use toothpicks consume sugared snacks among urban rural residents males less educated parents reported oral hygiene sugar intake less frequently females highly educated whereas gender difference respect intake sugared snacks larger among urban rural residents socioeconomic disparity respect use toothpicks pronounced among rural residents results appear imply addition targeting specific oral health behaviors bath individual characteristics wider socioregional context addressed planning oral health intervention among ghanaian adolescents