Participants should be aware of the following financial/non-financial relationships: . Sucharu Ghosh, BDS, MPH: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.. Janine Burkhardt, DMD, MPH, FAGD: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.. Samarpita Chatterjee, BDS: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.. Changyong Feng, PhD: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.. Sangeeta Gajendra, DDS, MPH, MS: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.
Abstract: Objectives: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between dental caries and employment among people who have used cocaine/heroin/methamphetamine in the past year and those before the past year.
Methods: The study used National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2015-2018 data. The dependent variable was severe caries (DMFT>= 14) and the independent variable was employment status. The total population was subdivided into three groups: never used drugs, used in the past year, and used before the past year. Age, Education, Race, Gender, Smoking, Diabetes, Ratio of family income to the federal poverty level, and Health Insurance status were included in the analysis as covariates. Logistic regression and appropriate survey weights were used for statistical analysis.
Results The study included a total of 5476 participants, who were nationally representative of 131,848,604 US adults aged 18-59 years. Among the people who used drugs in the past year, people aged 18-30 years, males and non-Hispanic whites were most common. Mean DMFT and severe caries were highest among people who used drugs before the past year and untreated caries and severe caries were highest among past-year users. Among adults who used drugs in the past year, those who have severe caries were 2.6 times (95% CI: 1.13-5.90, p-value:0.025) more likely to be unemployed than those who do not have severe caries.
Conclusions: Among US adults who used cocaine/heroin/methamphetamine in the past year those who have severe caries are more likely to be unemployed than those who do not have severe caries.
Source of Funding: None
Affiliations: University of Rochester Boston University Temple University
