The association of dental caries and periapical lesions with anthropometric measurements in postpartum women in Mangochi, Malawi
Hafez, Sali (2017)
Hafez, Sali
2017
Master's Degree Programme in Health Sciences
Yhteiskuntatieteiden tiedekunta - Faculty of Social Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2017-05-08
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:uta-201705191662
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:uta-201705191662
Tiivistelmä
Background: Obesity, stunting, malnutrition and dental diseases are major public health challenges globally. Dental diseases and anthropometrics are of multifactorial nature and share the same risk factors; diet, socioeconomic status and education. People who have dental caries or periapiacl lesions suffer pain and discomfort during eating which might be associated with less food intake and low anthropometrics. No previous studies, that investigated the association of dental diseases (dental caries and periapiacl lesions) with anthropometric measurements (body mass index BMI and middle upper arm circumference MUAC) among post-partum women or in a rural Sub-Saharan Africa has been published before.
Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the association of dental caries and periapiapical lesions with anthropometric measurements (BMI and MUAC) among post partum women in rural Mangochi, Malawi. The study's hypothesis was that dental caries and periapiacl lesions are associated with low anthropometrics in this low resource setting in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Methods: The study had cross-sectional design. The study used secondary data from larger nutrition interventional trial iLiNS-DYAD (www.ilins.org). The sample size of this study was 1016 participants. The anthropometric measures (BMI and MUAC), age, gestational age at enrolment and the number of previous pregnancies were collected during early pregnancy of maximum twenty weeks at the study enrolment. The dental data (periapical lesions and dental caries) and the gestational age at delivery were collected postpartum within maximum 6 weeks of delivery. Unadjusted multinomial logistic regression was performed to investigate the association among variables.
Results: 1016 women were enrolled in the study, with the age range of 14-49 years and the mean age of 25.5 years. Of the study participants, 580 (57.1%) had one or more carious teeth and 240 (23.6%) had one of more periapical lesions. For the anthropometrics, 54 participants (5.3%) had low BMI, 844 (83.1%) had moderate BMI and 118 (11.6%) had high BMI. Measuring the MUAC, 71 participants (7%) had low MUAC, 603 (59.4%) had moderate MUAC and 342 (33.6%) had high MUAC. The study did not find statistically significant association of dental caries and periapical lesions with BMI (low or high) or low MUAC. Nevertheless, there was a statistically significant association between caries and high MUAC (OR= 1.3, 95% CI 1.0 - 1.7, p=0.046) and stronger significant association between periapical lesions and high MUAC (OR=1.6, 95% CI 1.2 - 2.2, p= 0.002).
Conclusion: The study results suggest rejecting the hypothesis that dental caries and periapical lesions are associated with low anthropometric measurements (BMI and MUAC) among the study participants. Further studies are recommended to investigate whether the association of dental caries and periapical lesions with high MUAC is causal or could be better explained by the common risk factors.
Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the association of dental caries and periapiapical lesions with anthropometric measurements (BMI and MUAC) among post partum women in rural Mangochi, Malawi. The study's hypothesis was that dental caries and periapiacl lesions are associated with low anthropometrics in this low resource setting in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Methods: The study had cross-sectional design. The study used secondary data from larger nutrition interventional trial iLiNS-DYAD (www.ilins.org). The sample size of this study was 1016 participants. The anthropometric measures (BMI and MUAC), age, gestational age at enrolment and the number of previous pregnancies were collected during early pregnancy of maximum twenty weeks at the study enrolment. The dental data (periapical lesions and dental caries) and the gestational age at delivery were collected postpartum within maximum 6 weeks of delivery. Unadjusted multinomial logistic regression was performed to investigate the association among variables.
Results: 1016 women were enrolled in the study, with the age range of 14-49 years and the mean age of 25.5 years. Of the study participants, 580 (57.1%) had one or more carious teeth and 240 (23.6%) had one of more periapical lesions. For the anthropometrics, 54 participants (5.3%) had low BMI, 844 (83.1%) had moderate BMI and 118 (11.6%) had high BMI. Measuring the MUAC, 71 participants (7%) had low MUAC, 603 (59.4%) had moderate MUAC and 342 (33.6%) had high MUAC. The study did not find statistically significant association of dental caries and periapical lesions with BMI (low or high) or low MUAC. Nevertheless, there was a statistically significant association between caries and high MUAC (OR= 1.3, 95% CI 1.0 - 1.7, p=0.046) and stronger significant association between periapical lesions and high MUAC (OR=1.6, 95% CI 1.2 - 2.2, p= 0.002).
Conclusion: The study results suggest rejecting the hypothesis that dental caries and periapical lesions are associated with low anthropometric measurements (BMI and MUAC) among the study participants. Further studies are recommended to investigate whether the association of dental caries and periapical lesions with high MUAC is causal or could be better explained by the common risk factors.