Association between complementary and integrative practices in health and dental services use among older adults in Brazil: crosssectional study, 2019

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the association between participation in integrative practices and the regular dental services use in Brazilian older adults. Methods: Cross-sectional study with secondary data from the 2019 National Health Survey. All older adults aged 60 years and over were included. The outcome was the regular dental services use. Poisson regression models were used to estimate crude and adjusted prevalence ratios (PR) and their respective confidence intervals at 95% (CI95%). Results: A total of 22,728 older adults were analysed. Most were female (55.5%), self-declared white (51.3%), with incomplete primary education (47.0%); 7.0% (CI95% 6.8;7.5) used some integrative practice and 34.3% (CI95% 33.2;35.4) used the dental service regularly. Individuals who used integrative practices had a higher prevalence of dental service use even after adjusting the model (PR=1.15 – 95%CI 1.07;1.23). Conclusion: The use of integrative practices was associated with the regular use of dental services by Brazilian older adults.