Oral Health Epidemiology of Minority Groups

Hittelman, Eugene

Abstract

The specific aim of this proposal is to explore and develop avenues of access to a largely undocumented urban minority, the Asian-Americans, for the purpose of studying the oral health status and needs of this group. This pilot study, relying, by necessity of its constraints, on a convenience sample, will provide the experience, knowledge, and training necessary to launch a future large-scale epidemiological study of representative samples of Asian-Americans and other urban minorities. 1990 U.S. Census data revealed that the Asian-American group increased by over 100 percent in the decade of the eighties, and that it is expected to triple by the year 2040. Yet, reports about the oral health of this population are conspicuously absent in the dental literature of the past 30 years. The few small studies suggest that Asians may have more dental disease than other populations. The dynamics at work with this group are highly complex. Nor only are they comprised of a variety of ethnic and racial subgroups, there is also a good deal of variation in their immigrant status. The influx of the last decade means that there is a sizeable group of new immigrants, and possibly, across all ethnic groups, this variable may link them together. This proposal will examine issues of ethnicity of subgroups and immigrant status. Using a """"""""Cross-Lag"""""""" or """"""""Cohort-Sequential"""""""" design, in which ethnic groups are subdivided by immigrant status, subjects in the age range of 30 to 60 will be followed for three years. In order to deal with the expected high attrition, this design allows for the entry of new cohorts in year 2 and year 3. Data will also be collected on a cohort of 30 to 60 year old Caucasians for the purpose of comparison. Subjects will be recruited by outreach screening sessions in New York City. This will mean that data will be collected for additional age-groups for the Asian cohort. Data for all groups will include DMFT, DMFS, oral hygiene, gingivitis, periodontal status, malocclusion, treatment needs, soft tissue lesions, and dental knowledge and attitudes. NYUCD staff hygienists, faculty and students will be trained in the rigors of epidemiological studies and calibrated as examiners.