Talk to the Veterans Crisis Line now
U.S. flag
An official website of the United States government

VA Health Systems Research

Go to the VA ORD website
Go to the QUERI website

HSR Citation Abstract

Search | Search by Center | Search by Source | Keywords in Title

Spurious associations in oral epidemiological research: the case of dental flossing and obesity.

Hujoel PP, Cunha-Cruz J, Kressin NR. Spurious associations in oral epidemiological research: the case of dental flossing and obesity. Journal of clinical periodontology. 2006 Aug 1; 33(8):520-3.

Related HSR&D Project(s)

Dimensions for VA is a web-based tool available to VA staff that enables detailed searches of published research and research projects.

If you have VA-Intranet access, click here for more information vaww.hsrd.research.va.gov/dimensions/

VA staff not currently on the VA network can access Dimensions by registering for an account using their VA email address.
   Search Dimensions for VA for this citation
* Don't have VA-internal network access or a VA email address? Try searching the free-to-the-public version of Dimensions



Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Individuals with increased oral health awareness may also have increased general health awareness, and vice versa. Such associations between oral and general health awareness has the potential to induce spurious associations in oral epidemiological research. OBJECTIVE: To assess the extent to which oral self-care patterns and general health awareness are confounded, we investigated the association between flossing and obesity, two lifestyle factors that are unlikely to be causally related. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 1497 individuals presenting for an initial periodontal exam by the specialist. Self-reported flossing behaviors and body mass index (BMI) categories were related using logistic regression models. RESULTS: After adjustment for confounding variables, lack of daily flossing was associated in a dose-dependent way with morbid obesity (odds ratio (OR), 20.3; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.7-154.0), obesity (OR, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.5-2.9), and being overweight (OR, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.3-2.2). When restricting to never smokers, a significant relationship between obesity and lack of flossing remained. CONCLUSION: The strong associations between two causally unrelated oral and general lifestyle characteristics indicate that simplistic epidemiologic methodology is unlikely to provide insights into causal mechanisms of oral diseases or oral-systemic relationships.





Questions about the HSR website? Email the Web Team

Any health information on this website is strictly for informational purposes and is not intended as medical advice. It should not be used to diagnose or treat any condition.