Social Support, Depression, and Oral Health in Later Life

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Oral health is a critical but often overlooked component of health and well-being in older Americans. Compared to younger individuals, elderly people have an increased incidence and prevalence of oral disease. Some research suggests that social, psychological, and behavioral factors are associated with oral health; however, this evidence is largely based on cross-sectional and non-representative samples with little control of the complex effects of key covariates. In addition, little is known about the inter-relationship between oral health and social, psychological and behavioral factors. In response to RFA-DE-08-009, we propose to develop dynamic models of oral health to comprehensively examine psychosocial and health behavioral determinants of oral health. This study has the following Specific Aims: 1) depict the trajectories of oral health among older individuals; 2) examine the reciprocal linkages between the changes in oral health and those in social support; 3) assess the reciprocal linkages between the changes in oral health and depressive symptoms; and 4) evaluate variations in the associations among oral health, depressive symptoms, and social support in older individuals across socioeconomic strata. This proposed research is innovative in several respects: state-of-the-art approach to undertake longitudinal and multi-level analysis of oral health; examination of the reciprocal linkage among social support, depression and oral health; use of multiple well-established longitudinal datasets, including nationally and regionally representative samples, to compare and confirm the reciprocal linkages across various datasets and to identify predictors of oral health; and use of Medicare claims data to obtain diagnosed medical conditions and health care use. We aim to better understand determinants of oral health from social and behavioral perspectives. And, in turn, our study may suggest strategies for effective and innovative practices to prevent oral health deterioration. As secondary data will be used, the proposed study is a very cost-effective way to accomplish our objectives. Project Narrative: The growing number and proportion of the older adults in the U.S. makes geriatric oral health an increasingly important public health issue that this study will address. This study will lead to the development of effective prevention and intervention strategies.