ORAL HEALTH LITERACY OF WOMEN IN MALANG CITY, INDONESIA

Abstract

Dental and oral health literacy in the last few decades has received special attention in the fields of medicine and public health.  Health and literacy are the two main areas in the development of human beings in the world.  Both areas have been recognized as important elements in improving quality of life.  Therefore, special attention is needed in terms of dental and oral health especially for women since certain condition such as pregnancy are related to periodontal diseases. This study aimed to analyze the determinants of oral health literacy (OHL) of women in Malang City, Indonesia.  This study was a cross-sectional study involving 177 women.  The data collection employed the HeLD-29 items questionnaire which was conducted by interviewing the respondents.  The descriptive percentage was utilized in univariate analysis, while the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U-test and Kruskal-Wallis test were used in bivariate analysis.  Based on the results of Kruskal-Wallis test, women living in different sub-districts had significantly different in OHL scores (p=0.028).  However, there were no significant differences in other sociodemographic variables such as age, education, monthly income and last visit to the dentist.  Future studies are needed to find appropriate interventions to improve oral health literacy and raise awareness about the importance of going to the dentist, especially in women living in sub-districts who have lower OHL scores.