Abstract
AbstractOral health is a major public health issue in West Africa, yet it has gotten little attention. Individual and group disparities in health status are influenced by social determinants of health (SDH), which also affect oral health. Adolescence is a significant transition into adulthood, a time when the SDH can contribute to lifelong health status. This article explored the SDH associated with oral health behaviour, perception, and oral health development amongst adolescents in West Africa. This article engaged articles published in peer-reviewed journals relating to adolescents' oral health and West Africa. The authors undertook this desk review to determine the social determinants of adolescents' oral health in West Africa. The literacy levels and oral health awareness of adolescents, family and social circle influences, socioeconomic status, nutritional levels, and cultural and environmental factors have been identified as important social determinants. Adequate policy implementation with the integration of oral health in schools' curriculum, health systems reorientation with the adoption of oral health delivery in primary health care and expansion in oral health research with the assessment of cultural influences on oral health development have been recommended as interventions to reduce oral health inequalities in West Africa.
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health,Health Policy,Health (social science),Epidemiology
Reference56 articles.
1. Ogunsile S, Ojo I. Oral hygiene status of adolescents in a local government area of Oyo State Nigeria. J Sci Technol. 2010;30(3):81–6. https://doi.org/10.4314/just.v30i3.64647.
2. World Health Organization. World conference on social determinants of health: meeting report. World Heal Organ. 2011. Available from https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241503617. Accessed 12 June 2022.
3. FDI World Dental Federation. FDI’s definition of oral health. 2016. Available from https://www.fdiworlddental.org/fdis-definition-oral-health. Accessed 18 Nov 2022.
4. Global Burden of Disease Collaborative Network. Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 (GBD 2019). Seattle: Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME); 2020. Available from http://ghdx.healthdata.org/gbd-results-tool.
5. James SL, Abate D, Abate KH, et al. Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 354 diseases and injuries for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Lancet. 2018;392(10159):1789–858. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32279-7.