Prevalência de dificuldade na mastigação e fatores associados em adultos usuários do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) em Patos, Paraíba, Brasil.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of chewing impairment and associated factors in adults aged 20 to 59 years in Patos, PB, in the Northeastern Brazil. A crosssectional study was conducted on a random sample of 532 particpants. The outcome ‘chewing impairment’ was obtained trhough the question “How often do you have chewing impairment due to the teeth or denture problems?”. Crude and adjusted prevalence ratios were estimated using a Poisson regression model. The prevalence of chewing impairment was 30,5%. In the final multivariate analysis, factors associated with chewing impariment were: age group, schooling level, time since last visit to dentist, severe tooth loss, absence of functional dentition, use and need of prothesis, dental pain and signs and symptoms of changes in ATM. The magnitude of the associations between variables, especially tooth loss and need of dental prothesis, emphasizing the importance of this subjective indicator in evaluating the oral health status of adults and shows that the difficulty in chewing is associated with a multidimensional structure factors.