Autoavaliação da saúde bucal e sua associação com a imagem corporal de adolescentes

Abstract

Adolescence, being a phase of great importance for intellectual, cognitive, and healthy development, faces several challenges and situations that can determine the well-being and quality of life that will be had in adulthood. Adolescents' perception of their oral health condition, body image, and self-esteem are important axes for this personal construction. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between self-rated oral health and body image in adolescents of both sexes. A cross-sectional study with adolescents between 14 and 19 years old enrolled in public schools in the urban area of Juiz de Fora, MG. A total of 281 adolescents participated in the study. To obtain data, participants completed a questionnaire on socioeconomic status, selfperception of body image, self-rated oral health, and self-esteem, which was shared online through the Google Forms platform. Initially, descriptive analyzes of the data were carried out, Kolmogorov-Smirnov normality tests. The chi-square test with Fisher's correction was used when necessary. Variables with p < 0.10 in the bivariate analysis were included in the logistic regression model. Variables with p < 0.05 were kept in the final model. Among the evaluated adolescents, 12.8% self-rated their oral health as negative (Fair/Poor). With regard to body image, 66.5% of adolescents were dissatisfied. Bivariate analyses revealed that socioeconomic position (p < 0.001), family structure in which the adolescent lived (p < 0.01) and level of self-esteem (p < 0.004) are associated with self-rated oral health. In the final model of logistic regression, when significant variables were included, it was observed that having a higher socioeconomic position behaved in a protective way in relation to self-rated oral health, the variable related to family structure, behaved at risk when the adolescent reported not living with parents, and the variable self-esteem behaved as a risk when the adolescent had a low level of self-esteem. The results of this study show that the perception of body image of adolescents was not associated with self-rated of oral health; on the other hand, socioeconomic factors, family structure and self-esteem influence the self-rated oral health of adolescents.