ORAL HEALTH AND QUALITY OF LIFE

Boston Va Research Institute, Inc., Boston MA

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

DESCRIPTION: The goal of the proposed research training plan for Noelle Huntington is to develop the skills and knowledge necessary to become an independent researcher in children?s oral health. The fulfillment of this goal will occur in two phases. The focus of phase one is the relationship between psychosocial factors and oral health outcomes in adults, and will be investigated through secondary analysis of data from the VA Dental Longitudinal Study (DLS) and Normative Aging Study (NAS). Two sets of questions will be addressed. The first concerns the relationship between three oral health constructs - clinical status, self-report of status, and oral health-related quality of life. The second set of questions concerns the disparity in oral health outcomes by socioeconomic condition. It is hypothesized that factors secondary to socioeconomic condition (e.g., insurance, access) serve as mediators between SES and oral health. Theory-based models of these relationships will be designed and tested using DLS and NAS data, including models of change in oral health status following changes in socioeconomic or mediating variables. The second phase will serve as an orientation to the area of children?s oral health research through the guided development and testing of a measure of oral health-related quality of life in children. This measure will then be used to facilitate future research in oral health-related quality of life, beyond the period covered by this fellowship.