Associations between Indigenous Australian oral health literacy and self-reported oral health outcomes

Oral health is integral to overall health and wellbeing, with poor oral health and untreated oral conditions having a deleterious impact on quality of life [1]. Preventable and treatable oral diseases remain widespread, particularly amongst poor and underserved populations [2].

Indigenous Australians identify as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent, and represented 2.5% of the total Australian population in 2006. The median age is 21 years, compared with 37 years for the non-Indigenous population [3]. The majority of Indigenous Australians live outside major cities, with 43% living in regional and 25% in remote areas in 2006.

Indigenous Australians have poorer self-reported health and suffer a greater burden of disease than non-Indigenous Australians [3]. Indigenous adults accessing public dental services in Australia have higher levels of periodontal disease and fewer filled teeth, but greater numbers of missing teeth than non-Indigenous patients [4]. Indigenous children in Australia experience significantly higher levels of dental caries than their non-Indigenous counterparts [5, 6] with greater levels of untreated disease and less preventive therapies [7].

Although recently gaining more attention, there has been little work in the field of oral health literacy or, more specifically, the impact of oral health literacy on oral health outcomes, amongst disadvantaged groups such as Indigenous Australians. Health literacy has been defined as "the degree to which individuals can obtain, process and understand the basic health information and services they need to make appropriate health decisions" [8]. In the oral health context, literacy can be considered as the skills necessary for people to understand the causes of poor oral health, to learn and adopt fundamental aspects of positive oral self-care behaviours, to communicate with oral health care providers, to place their names on dental treatment waiting lists or organise appointments, to find their way to the dental clinic, to fill out the necessary forms and to comply with any required regimes, including follow-up appointments and compliance with prescribed medication [9]. This definition addresses functional oral health literacy, encompassing knowledge as well as ability to use that knowledge in making appropriate oral health-related decisions. Oral health literacy, in this definition, encompasses far more than reading; it involves writing, numeracy, speaking, listening and 'understanding the system' [10]. It is suggested that the complexity of both verbal and written oral health communications create a significant barrier to improving oral health [2] and that oral health literacy is required in order to promote oral health and to prevent oral disease [1]. It has also been proposed that health literacy may be associated with barriers to accessing care, oral health behaviours such as prevention and to follow-up care [11].

Although the precise relationship between literacy and oral health outcomes has not been established [1], one model that may be useful when conceptualising the interplay between oral health literacy, culture and society, the health system, the education system, and their collective role in determining oral health literacy-related outcomes and costs is outlined in Figure 1[12]. As depicted in the model, literacy is hypothesized as being one of many factors that influences oral health. The first step toward discerning the role of literacy in a multidimensional model of oral health is to therefore determine if literacy skills explain oral health disparities, or if disparities still exist among those with equivalent levels of literacy. Once the relationship between literacy and oral health (independent of education and other social determinants) is assessed, other factors in the explanatory model can be incorporated to see how they interact with oral health literacy. According to the model, such determinants include economics, cultural and other social factors, education and various aspects of the health system.

Word recognition tests demonstrate a strong correlation with general reading ability and reading comprehension [13], with evidence suggesting that if a person has difficulty pronouncing dental-related words, then that person may additionally have difficulty with comprehension; a higher order skill [14]. In the general health realm, those with limited health literacy skills are more likely to miss important preventative measures such as mammograms, Pap smears and influenza shots [15], and be late presenters to the health care system [16]. Low health-literate individuals often have chronic conditions and are less able to effectively manage them, for example, low-literate people with diabetes [17], asthma [18] or HIV/AIDS [19] have been shown to have less knowledge of their illness and its management than their more literate counterparts. Limited health literacy is associated with poor self-ratings of health [20], and an increase in preventable hospital admissions, with higher rates of hospitalisation and use of emergency services being reported among those with limited literacy [21]. Based on the Rapid Estimate of Adult Health Literacy in medicine (REALM), an instrument to measure dental health literacy (Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Dentistry; REALD) was developed by Richman and colleagues [22]. A shortened version, REALD-30, was also developed and validated, with low REALD-30 scores being associated with poor oral health-related quality of life and poor self-rated oral health [23].

This study aims to contribute to an increased understanding of the impact of oral health literacy, and oral health literacy-related outcomes, on self-reported oral health among rural-dwelling Indigenous Australians. Specifically, the aims are: 1) to determine the relationship between oral health literacy, as assessed by REALD-30, and oral health literacy-related outcomes; defined in this study as oral health knowledge, oral health self-care and utilisation of dental services and; 2) to determine if oral health literacy-related outcomes are risk indicators for 7 domains of poor self-reported oral health.

Based on a conceptual model, this study set out to determine if: a) oral health literacy, as assessed by REALD-30, was associated with the oral health literacy-related outcomes of dental service utilisation, oral health knowledge and oral self-care behaviour and; b) if oral health literacy-related outcomes were risk indicators for 7 domains of poor self-reported oral health among a convenience sample of rural-dwelling Indigenous Australians. REALD-30 was significantly associated with the oral health literacy-related outcomes. Consistent with our conceptual framework-that portrays oral health literacy as preceding oral health literacy-related outcomes in terms of oral health consequences-REALD-30 did not persist as a risk indicator for poor self-reported oral health in the multivariate models. However, at least one of the risk indicators for each of the poor self-reported oral health measures included oral health literacy-related outcomes.

Before examining our findings in greater detail, it is important to describe the study's shortcomings. First, the sample was one of convenience, meaning the findings cannot be considered to be representative of all Indigenous persons in Port Augusta. Due to the convenience nature of the recruitment strategies, the number of people who declined to participate was not recorded. Second, the design was cross-sectional, meaning there can be no assumptions of causality. Third, REALD-30 may not have been a realistic assessment of oral health literacy in our study population. The shortcomings of REALD-30 are acknowledged, particularly in that it measures word recognition only, that is, with no test of comprehension or function. However, there were few other validated instruments available to measure oral health literacy that were considered culturally acceptable to our Indigenous reference group. The Test of Functional Health Literacy in Dentistry (TOFHLiD) was developed in an attempt to measure broader aspects of oral health literacy, measuring reading comprehension as well as numerical ability [14]. This instrument was included in the initial questionnaire, but was removed after trialling with the Indigenous reference group, who identified a potential lack of acceptance within the community.

Shortcomings aside, the findings confirm that those with poorer oral health literacy, as measured by REALD-30, had poorer oral health knowledge and engaged in more harmful oral health literacy-related behaviours. The findings also indicate that, after adjusting for confounding, poor oral health literacy-related outcomes were risk indicators for 7 domains of poor self-reported oral health; which included items as far ranging as perceived need for dental care to oral health-related quality of life. The number of questionnaires completed was higher than anticipated, demonstrating that the project was embraced by the community, with many people involved and the majority of questionnaires implemented by Indigenous staff and community members. This survey has lead to further discussions with key members of the community, with ongoing discussions in relation to appropriate interventions, future research projects related to oral health, and development of an Indigenous Advisory Group for Indigenous oral health research in the region; important steps in the development of oral health research protocols that are owned and organised by the Indigenous groups of whom they intend to benefit.

The causal pathway between poor oral health literacy and poor oral health literacy-related outcomes-defined in our study as problem-based dental service utilisation, poor oral health knowledge and sub-optimal oral self-care behaviour-is both intuitive and supported by literature in the general health realm. For example, low health literacy has been associated with greater emergency visits to hospital [21], poorer knowledge regarding a chronic condition and its causes [18] and less-than-ideal self-care behaviour [15]. Our findings add evidence to the claim that literacy is one of the key ways in which individuals are able to process and act on information to improve their health outcomes and health care behaviours [27].

The associations between poor oral health literacy-related outcomes with the seven domains of poor self-rated oral health selected in this study are perhaps also intuitive, and again supported by literature in the general health realm. For example, limited health-related knowledge is a risk indicator for poor self-reported general health [28], and poor general self-care behaviour is a risk indicator for poor general health-related quality of life [29]. Given the evidence correlating poor self-reported oral health with poor clinical outcomes [30], our findings suggest that further investigation of the specific role of oral health literacy on oral health literacy-related outcomes and, in turn, the role of oral health literacy-related outcomes on various domains of poor self-rated oral health, warrants further investigation. This research is particularly relevant among Indigenous populations both in Australia and at an international level; groups who experience unacceptable levels of both dental disease and poor oral health-related quality of life, and cannot always access the care they require.

In this convenience sample of Indigenous adults, oral health literacy was significantly associated with oral health literacy-related outcomes. In turn, oral health literacy-related outcomes were risk indicators for poor self-reported oral health. Further investigation is needed to better understand causal pathways and develop appropriate intervention strategies to improve oral health outcomes for Indigenous people.