Oral Health Status and Behavior among Cancer Survivors in Korea Using Nationwide Survey

Abstract

Cancer survivors remain at life-long risk of developing oral complications. This study investigated the oral health status and behavior among cancer survivors in comparison to subjects without a history of cancer using a nationwide survey. Cancer survivors and control subjects were selected from the sixth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2013-2015). Survivors reported chewing (34.8%) and speaking difficulties (15.3%) resulting from oral health problems. More than 36% of survivors had periodontal disease and 15.9% needed dentures. In multiple logistic regression analysis, age, household income, education level, smoking status, cancer site, and current cancer status were associated with oral health status. Approximately 43.3% of cancer survivors brushed their teeth more than three times a day. In addition, 44.9% of survivors used secondary oral products, and 30.8% had been screened for oral health problems over the past year. Age, household income and education level were associated with oral health behavior. The oral health status and behavior excepting periodontal disease and the use of secondary oral products were not significantly different between cancer survivors and controls. Although oral health status of cancer survivors was not worse than that of controls, more than half of the survivors maintained unhealthy oral practices.

Keywords: health behavior; neoplasms; nutrition surveys; oral health; survivors.