OBJECTIVE: To evaluate how elderly home-dwelling subjects' background factors, state of health, functional capacity and edentulousness related to their attendance in a comprehensive clinical dental study. DESIGN: Cross-sectional population study; interview and clinical dental data. SETTING: The City of Helsinki; clinical dental examinations at the Institute of Dentistry, University of Helsinki. SUBJECTS: 600 elderly aged 76, 81 and 86 years, participants in the medical examinations in the Helsinki Ageing Study one year earlier, 81% being home-dwelling. MEASURES: Age, gender, marital status, family structure, educational level, former line of work, self-perceived general health, dentulousness, ability to move, sense of hearing, state of memory, clinical findings of dementia, other medical diagnoses, and intake of drugs. OUTCOME MEASURE: Participation in clinical dental examinations. RESULTS: The overall participation was 63% being reduced by high age and female gender, 75% of the 76-year-olds, but only 53% of those aged 81 or 86 years were clinically examined, figures were for men 72% and for women 60%. As shown by a multifactorial logit model, the strongest factors related to non-participation were the home-dwelling subjects' old age (OR = 3.6), deteriorated ability to move (OR = 5.3), clinically diagnosed symptoms of dementia (OR = 4.1), or edentulousness (OR = 2.5). CONCLUSION: Non-participation selectively by those edentulous will lead to prevalence figures on numbers of teeth being too optimistic for the entire elderly population.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate how elderly home-dwelling subjects' background factors, state of health, functional capacity and edentulousness related to their attendance in a comprehensive clinical dental study. DESIGN: Cross-sectional population study; interview and clinical dental data. SETTING: The City of Helsinki; clinical dental examinations at the Institute of Dentistry, University of Helsinki. SUBJECTS: 600 elderly aged 76, 81 and 86 years, participants in the medical examinations in the Helsinki Ageing Study one year earlier, 81% being home-dwelling. MEASURES: Age, gender, marital status, family structure, educational level, former line of work, self-perceived general health, dentulousness, ability to move, sense of hearing, state of memory, clinical findings of dementia, other medical diagnoses, and intake of drugs. OUTCOME MEASURE: Participation in clinical dental examinations. RESULTS: The overall participation was 63% being reduced by high age and female gender, 75% of the 76-year-olds, but only 53% of those aged 81 or 86 years were clinically examined, figures were for men 72% and for women 60%. As shown by a multifactorial logit model, the strongest factors related to non-participation were the home-dwelling subjects' old age (OR = 3.6), deteriorated ability to move (OR = 5.3), clinically diagnosed symptoms of dementia (OR = 4.1), or edentulousness (OR = 2.5). CONCLUSION: Non-participation selectively by those edentulous will lead to prevalence figures on numbers of teeth being too optimistic for the entire elderly population.