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Associations between self-reported physical activity and oral health: a cross-sectional analysis in 17,777 Spanish adults

British Dental Journal volume 228, pages 361–365 (2020)Cite this article

Abstract

Background The aim of this study was to assess the association between levels of physical activity and oral health in adults residing in Spain.

Methods Cross-sectional data from the Spanish National Health Survey 2017 were analysed (n = 17,777 adults aged ≥15 years; 52.0% females). The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) short form was used to measure physical activity. Oral health was self-reported through eight variables. Covariates included were sex, age, marital status, education, obesity, smoking and alcohol consumption.

Results Dental caries (19.8% vs 27.8%), dental extraction (72.7% vs 75.4%), gingival bleeding (15.5% vs 19.1%), tooth movement (4.3% vs 5.9%) and missing tooth (57.9% vs 62.5%) were statistically significantly less frequent in the sufficient than insufficient physical activity group, whereas dental filling (74.2% vs 70.9%), dental material (36.6% vs 34.8%) and no missing tooth and no material (28.2% vs 25.1%) were statistically significantly more common. After adjustment, there was a negative relationship between physical activity and dental caries (OR = 0.72; 95%CI = 0.66-0.78), gingival bleeding (OR = 0.79; 95%CI = 0.72-0.86), tooth movement (OR = 0.83; 95%CI = 0.71-0.96) and missing tooth (OR = 0.91; 95%CI = 0.85-0.98). In contrast, physical activity was positively associated with dental material (OR = 1.16; 95%CI = 1.07-1.25).

Conclusions Participation in physical activity is favourably associated with some but not all self-reported oral health correlates.

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Funding

Ai Koyanagi's work is supported by the PI15/00862 project, integrated into the National R + D + I and funded by the ISCIII - General Branch Evaluation and Promotion of Health Research - and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF-FEDER). These funders had no role in the study design, collection, analysis and interpretation of the data, writing of the report, and the decision to submit the article for publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain

    Guillermo F. Lopez Sanchez

  2. The Cambridge Centre for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, CB1 1PT, UK

    Lee Smith

  3. Research and Development Unit, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, CIBERSAM, Dr. Antoni Pujadas, 42, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona 08,830, Spain; ICREA, Pg. Lluis Companys 23, Barcelona, Spain

    Ai Koyanagi

  4. Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Centre for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Igor Grabovac

  5. Department of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Research, Cancer Control Alberta, Alberta Health Services, Calgary, AB, Canada; Departments of Oncology and Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Lin Yang

  6. National Research Council, Neuroscience Institute, Aging Branch, Padua, Italy

    Nicola Veronese

  7. Department of Paediatrics, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic Of Korea

    Jae Il Shin

  8. Institute for Sport Exercise and Health Sciences, University College London, UK

    Mike Loosemore

  9. Research and Development Unit, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, CIBERSAM, Dr. Antoni Pujadas, 42, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona 08,830, Spain; Faculty of Medicine, University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Montigny-le-Bretonneux, 78,180, France

    Louis Jacob

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Contributions

Guillermo F Lopez Sanchez and Lee Smith contributed to the design of the study, managed the literature searches, wrote the first draft of the manuscript and contributed to the correction of the manuscript. Ai Koyanagi, Igor Grabovac, Lin Yang, Nicola Veronese, Jae Il Shin and Mike Loosemore contributed to the design of the study and the correction of the manuscript. Louis Jacob contributed to the design of the study, managed the literature searches, undertook the statistical analysis and contributed to the correction of the manuscript. All authors contributed to and have approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Lee Smith.

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Sanchez, G., Smith, L., Koyanagi, A. et al. Associations between self-reported physical activity and oral health: a cross-sectional analysis in 17,777 Spanish adults. Br Dent J 228, 361–365 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-020-1306-3

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