Perceived discrimination and U.S. children’s oral health status
OA Version
Citation
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Oral health (OH) status of U.S. children is associated with racial/ethnic inequalities. We examined the relationship between children’s OH status and parental reports of their child’s experience of discrimination due to their race/ethnicity.
METHODS: Data from the 2022-2023 U.S. National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) were used. The outcome of interest was parents’ report of their child’s OH status (excellent/good vs fair/poor). The primary independent variable of interest was children’s experience of discrimination (i.e., parents report that their child was treated or judged unfairly because of their race or ethnic group). We used multivariate logistic regression to estimate the association between parents’ report of their child’s experience of discrimination due to their race/ethnicity and their child’s OH status. Other model covariates included child’s age, gender, race/ethnicity, and parents’ education, primary language, health insurance, poverty level.
RESULTS: Overall, 5.5% of respondents rated their child’s OH status as fair or poor; 3.8 % reported their child being treated or judged unfairly because of their racial or ethnic group; 81% reported their child saw an oral healthcare provider during the past 12 months, and 77% reported their child using preventive dental services during the past 12 months. The adjusted multivariate logistic regression model showed that children experiencing discrimination were 1.6 times more likely to have fair/poor OH status as compared to children who did not experience discrimination (95% CI: 1.3-2.0).
Description
2025