Epidemiol Health. 2021 Feb 28:e2021017. doi: 10.4178/epih.e2021017. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: The effect of age, gender and other demographic factors on relationship between smoking and dry mouth remained unknown. The aim of this study was to measure the relationship between dry mouth and smoking specifically by considering demographic characteristics.
METHODS: In this case-control study, 5640 subjects who were randomly selected from 10000 participants of the second phase of Kerman coronary artery disease risk factors study (KERCADRS) during 2014-2018, were included. Demographic characteristics and smoking frequency in the participants were recorded by a checklist. Six-item Fox questionnaire was filled out by the participants to determine dry mouth as a dependent variable. The interaction terms of daily cigarette smoking with sex, age, educational level, and marital status were entered to the model and non-significant terms were removed by the hierarchical model selection.
RESULTS: It was revealed that 3429 (60.8%) of controls had not dry mouth and 2211 (39.2%) of cases had xerostomia. Statistical analysis revealed that smokers are more likely to have dry mouth in all ages and both sexes (p<0.001). As men get older, the chance of having dry mouth increases more rapidly among them than female smokers (p<0.001). In addition, female smokers have more chance to have dry mouth compared to male smokers (p<0.001).
CONCLUSION: Age, sex, and daily cigarette smoking affect the prevalence of dry mouth in the very complex way. Cigarette smoking was associated with more chance of having dry mouth especially in female smokers.
PMID:33677858 | DOI:10.4178/epih.e2021017
