A population-based study of edentulism in the US: does depression and rural residency matter after controlling for potential confounders?

Background: Oral health is an integral component of general health and well-being. While edentulism has been examined in relation to socioeconomic status, rural residency, chronic disease and mental health, no study that we know of has examined edentulism and these factors together. The objective of this study was to determine whether depression and rural residency were significantly associated with partial and full edentulism in US adults after controlling for potential confounders.

Methods: 2006 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS) data were analyzed to identify factors associated with increased odds of partial or full edentulism. This year of BRFSS data was chosen for analysis because in this year the standardized and validated Personal Health Questionnaire-8 (PHQ-8) was used to measure current depression. This measure was part of the optional questions BRFSS asks, and in 2006 33 states and/or territories included them in their annual surveillance data collection. Bivariate and logistic regression analyses were performed on weighted BRFSS data.

Results: Logistic regression analysis using either full or partial edentulism as the dependent variable yielded that rural residency or living in a rural locale, low and/or middle socioeconomic status (SES), depression as measured by the PHQ-8, and African American race/ethnicity were all independent risk factors when controlling for these and a number of additional covariates.

Conclusions: This study adds to the epidemiological literature by assessing partial and full edentulism in the US utilizing data from the CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Examining data collected through a large national surveillance system such as BRFSS allows for an analysis that incorporates an array of covariates not available from clinically-based data alone. This study demonstrated that current depression and rural residency are important factors related to partial and full edentulism after controlling for potential confounders.