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A sample of 398 35-44-yr-old and 559 65-74-yr-old Hong Kong Chinese were interviewed by trained interviewers using a structured questionnaire in an oral health survey conducted in 1991. The present analysis aimed to describe the dental-care-seeking behaviour and attitudes of these subjects. It was found that 43% of the younger and 23% of the older age group had visited a dentist within the past year. More than half of the elderly and a quarter of the adults had not been to a dentist for 3 yr or more, and the main reason given by these subjects was that they felt that nothing was wrong. The vast majority of the subjects consulted a dentist only when they had toothache or other dental problems. Less than 20% of the 35-44-yr-olds visited a dentist for a check-up or teeth cleaning, and these subjects were described as having a prevention-oriented attitude toward oral care. The result of a logistic regression analysis showed that there was a higher chance for subjects to have this attitude if they had dental programme coverage, perceived their teeth to be good, had better dental health knowledge, had a more positive dental attitude, and were less anxious about dental care. However, the influence of these factors was quite weak, because the overall percentage of correct classification of the model was 83.7% and the sensitivity was only 23.3%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper was to study possible relationships between traditional Chinese health beliefs and health practices in adult Chinese in a modernized society. The study populations comprised 398 35-44-yr-old and 559 65-74-yr-old Hong Kong Chinese. The respondents were categorized into three groups with weak, moderate, or strong Chinese beliefs on the basis of interview questions on the causes of gum disease. Chinese preventive practices and Chinese pain practices were defined according to respondents' reported use of recommended traditional cures. Questions on generally accepted oral practices were phrased in terms of frequency of daily brushing of teeth, use of toothpicks the previous day, and whether or not teeth were flossed the previous day. Around one-third of the respondents had weak, almost one-half had moderate, and around one-quarter expressed strong Chinese health beliefs. No significant differences in Chinese health beliefs were found between men and women in either age group, or between the age groups. In the 35-44 age group, more of those with a higher education were in the "weak" Chinese health belief category, whereas, conversely, more of those with a lower education expressed stronger Chinese health beliefs (P<0.05). Women in both age groups reported significantly more frequent brushing. Toothpicks were used by around three-quarters of both age groups, but flossing was extremely rare. Chinese preventive practices were reported significantly more frequently by those in the older group who held strong Chinese health beliefs than those with moderate or weak beliefs, whereas the trend in the younger group was not significant. Chinese pain practices were reported very infrequently. Chinese health beliefs did not correlate with use variables. In the older group, Chinese health beliefs correlated strongly with preventive practices and with knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies on adult Hong Kong Chinese have indicated that their level of knowledge of and attitudes toward dental health might be a potential barrier to effective oral preventive efforts. The knowledge and attitudes of elderly Chinese have not previously been studied. The objectives of this study were to describe Hong Kong adults' knowledge of the causes of the two main oral diseases, caries and periodontal disease, and possible preventive measures, and to analyse possible relationships between knowledge and attitudes and selected sociodemographic and utilization variables. Two populations aged 35-44 yr (n=398) and 65-74 yr (n=559) were selected for the study, which was conducted as structured interviews. A knowledge score was constructed from questions on caries and periodontal disease development and prevention. Attitudes were measured in the younger group by beliefs and evaluations of those beliefs according to the theory of reasoned action (the higher the score, the more positive the attitude). Knowledge scores were almost normally distributed in the younger respondents, but were heavily skewed toward 0 in the older group. In both age groups, increased level of education and regularity or recency of dental visits were strongly associated with dental knowledge. Women, regular dental care users, and prevention-oriented respondents had higher attitude scores. There was no correlation between knowledge and attitudes. Some improvement in knowledge seems to have taken place, especially on the cause of caries, with fewer 35-44-yr-old respondents claiming lack of knowledge of the causes of caries and gum disease than in a previous study. In the older group, around half of the respondents were unaware of the causes of dental caries and gum disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]