Browsing by Author "Antunes, Ana Brígida Alves"
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- Estimation of periodontitis national and regional prevalence based on the study of periodontal health in Almada-SeixalPublication . Antunes, Ana Brígida Alves; Proença, Luís; Machado, VanessaAims: To estimate the risk of periodontitis in the Portuguese population at a regional level and the prevalence of periodontitis in the municipalities that make up the clusters with peri-urban characteristics. Materials and Methods: In this study, we have estimated the periodontitis risk for Portuguese population, at regional/territory-level, based on a multivariate approach, using sociodemographic, economic and health services data. The information was gathered for all 308 Portuguese municipalities and compiled in a large set of 52 variables. Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Factor Analysis (FA) and clustering techniques were used to model the nationwide geographical distribution of the disease. Estimation of periodontitis risk for each municipality was achieved by calculation of a normalized score, obtained as an adjusted linear combination of six independent factors that were extracted through PCA/FA. The municipalities were also classified according to a quartile-based risk grade, in each cluster. Additionally, linear regression was used to estimate the periodontitis prevalence within the peri-urban municipalities clusters, accounting for 30.5% of the Portuguese population. Results: A total of nine municipalities clusters were obtained with the following characteristics: mainly rural/low populated, including small villages (1), partly rural/including small cities (2), partly rural/including small and médium cities (3), mainly urban/peri-urban/including medium to large size cities (4 and 5). Uninominal clusters with their own characteristics were also obtained, grouped in clusters 6,7,8 and 9. The estimated periodontitis prevalence for the 18 municipalities included in the four peri-urban clusters, ranged from 41.2 to 69.0%. Conclusions: Periodontitis proved to be a disease with high prevalence in Portugal. The most affected population tends to be the oldest, with the highest unemployment rate, low income, precarious housing and with less schooling. To counter these values, it is foreseen the need to invest in oral health through the National Health Service.