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https://doi.org/10.26493/978-961-293-397-5.117-124

Self-assessment of the Oral Health

of Adults in Slovenia in 2019

Martin Ranfl, Anja Durjava , Barbara Artnik 3
1
2
1 National Institute of Public Health, Regional Unit Murska Sobota, Murska Sobota, Slovenia
2 National Institute of Public Health, Regional Unit Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia
3 University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Medicine, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Abstract

Introduction: Self-assessment of oral health is a subjective but important
indicator of an individual’s oral health. The aim of the study was to
determine the level of self-assessed oral health in Slovenia. Methods:
The »National Oral Health Survey of Adults in Slovenia in 2019« was
conducted on a sample of 3,200 adult residents of Slovenia aged between
18 and 74 years. Participants received an invitation to participate in the
online survey by post, and a written questionnaire was enclosed with the
notification letter for people over 44 years of age. The self-assessment of
oral health was evaluated using the question: »How do you rate your oral
health?«, possible answers were: »Very good«, »Good«, »Fair«, »Poor«,
»Very poor«. The extreme categories were combined for the statistical
analysis. The data were analysed according to demographic data. We
tested the distributions of proportions between different groups (by
gender, age, education and living environment) using the chi-square
test and the Column Comparison Proportion (CCP) test to compare
proportions between different groups. Results: 60% of respondents
rated their oral health positively, 12% of whom rated it as »very good«.
8% of respondents rated their oral health as »poor« or »very poor«.
62% of women rated their oral health positively, compared to 57% of
men. Conversely, the proportion of those who rated their oral health
negatively was higher among men than women (10% compared to
6%); the difference is statistically significant (CCP test, p=0.021). The
proportion of people who rated their oral health negatively was lowest
among adults with the highest level of education (8% of adults with at
least primary education, 10% of adults with secondary education and 4%
of adults with at least tertiary education). Discussion and conclusions:
Self-assessed oral health is related to socioeconomic factors such as
gender, education and living environment. The level of oral health of
Slovenian adults, based on self-assessment, is not high. A significant