{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,18]],"date-time":"2026-03-18T20:26:28Z","timestamp":1773865588688,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,5]],"date-time":"2024-06-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1717545600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001871","name":"FCT\u2014Funda\u00e7\u00e3o para a Ci\u00eancia e a Tecnologia, I.P.","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["UIDP\/04279\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDP\/04279\/2020"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001871","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>High average life expectancy has caused an increase in the elderly population and with it arises the need to characterize this population regarding their health and, in particular, their oral health. The purpose of this study was to assess and characterize oral health, oral rehabilitation, oral health literacy, oral health perception and quality of life in a sample of elderly participants of a physical activity program in Portugal. An observational cross-sectional study was designed with a group of 206 individuals. All the individuals were clinically assessed, DMFT, PSR and the plaque index were registered, and a questionnaire was applied in the form of a \u201cface-to-face\u201d interview with questions related to the quality of life related to oral health (GOHAI index and the REALD-30 scale). Of the 206 study participants, 90.3% admit brushing their teeth daily, 6.3% practice daily flossing, and 5.8% had a dental appointment in the last 12 months. Applying the REALD-30 scale, 22.7% have a low level (score 0\u201314), 43.7% a moderate level (score 15\u201322) and 33.6% a high level (score 23\u201329) of oral health literacy. The GOHAI scale reveals that 37.4% have a high self-perception of their oral health. A considerable proportion of the sample studied present a moderate level of oral health literacy. Therefore, educating each person about their oral health when participating in a specific health program and developing proposals for oral health promotion activities should be widely considered as a strategy towards primary prevention. Future oral health literacy sessions should be held in order to improve oral health and quality of life among the community.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph21060735","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,5]],"date-time":"2024-06-05T11:50:09Z","timestamp":1717588209000},"page":"735","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Oral Health Literacy and Determinants among an Elderly Community in Portugal"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5069-1020","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Helder","family":"Costa","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Salamanca, 37008 Salamanca, Spain"},{"name":"Universidade Cat\u00f3lica Portuguesa, Faculty of Dental Medicine, 3504-505 Viseu, Portugal"},{"name":"Universidade Cat\u00f3lica Portuguesa, Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Health (CIIS), 3504-505 Viseu, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8466-9216","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pedro","family":"Lopes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Universidade Cat\u00f3lica Portuguesa, Faculty of Dental Medicine, 3504-505 Viseu, Portugal"},{"name":"Universidade Cat\u00f3lica Portuguesa, Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Health (CIIS), 3504-505 Viseu, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6141-9089","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria Jos\u00e9","family":"Correia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Universidade Cat\u00f3lica Portuguesa, Faculty of Dental Medicine, 3504-505 Viseu, Portugal"},{"name":"Universidade Cat\u00f3lica Portuguesa, Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Health (CIIS), 3504-505 Viseu, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0512-9757","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Patr\u00edcia","family":"Couto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Universidade Cat\u00f3lica Portuguesa, Faculty of Dental Medicine, 3504-505 Viseu, Portugal"},{"name":"Universidade Cat\u00f3lica Portuguesa, Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Health (CIIS), 3504-505 Viseu, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Ana Margarida","family":"Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Salamanca, 37008 Salamanca, Spain"},{"name":"Universidade Cat\u00f3lica Portuguesa, Faculty of Dental Medicine, 3504-505 Viseu, Portugal"},{"name":"Universidade Cat\u00f3lica Portuguesa, Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Health (CIIS), 3504-505 Viseu, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1778-9090","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Joaquin Francisco","family":"L\u00f3pez-Marcos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Surgery Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Salamanca, 37008 Salamanca, Spain"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6288-0435","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"N\u00e9lio","family":"Veiga","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Universidade Cat\u00f3lica Portuguesa, Faculty of Dental Medicine, 3504-505 Viseu, Portugal"},{"name":"Universidade Cat\u00f3lica Portuguesa, Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Health (CIIS), 3504-505 Viseu, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Healthy People 2030 (2023, May 05). 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