The relationship between selected measures of periodontal status and demographic and behavioural risk factors

Objective: To assess differences between selected periodontal measures by demographic and behavioural factors in a nationally representative sample of the United States. Methods: Data for 11,347 person's ages 20-79 years from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) were used. Indices and measures constructed from NHANES III data used for this study were: derived community periodontal index (dCPI), attachment loss extent index (ALEI), attachment loss (AL) scores, and a Periodontal Status Measure (PSM) developed for this study. Results: The influence of demographic and behavioural factors varied across the four indices examined in multivariate cumulative logistic models. Moreover, there was significant effect modification by cigarette smoking with age in the ALEI and AL models. The odds ratio (OR) of increasing periodontal disease status among 20-39 year olds as measured by AL or ALEI for current smokers compared with non-smokers were OR=6.2 (95% confidence interval (CI)=4.1, 8.7) and OR=5.6 (95% CI=3.7, 8.7), respectively. In a similar comparison, the OR for dCPI was 2.6 (95% CI=1.7, 3.8). Furthermore, Mexican American ethnicity was generally not significant in any models using dCPI, PSM, AL, or ALEI and prior dental visit was more likely to be significant only in the dCPI and PSM models. Discussion: Among the well-known demographic and behavioural influences on periodontal health status, some, such as race/ethnicity and prior dental visit status have different relationships with differing periodontal measures employed to assess periodontal status. Moreover, potential interactions among cofactors also are dependent upon the measure selected. Periodontal research findings may be influenced significantly by periodontal measure selection and its affect on measurement validity. This may have particular relevance to issues concerning disease surveillance and assessing reduction of disparities in oral health. Consequently, a renewed approach to developing appropriate measures for periodontal epidemiology is needed.