Socio-spatial determinants of dental caries in children in European neighborhoods – a systematic review and meta-analysis

Einleitung WHO recommends that public health interventions should take socio-spatial determinants of health into account. The aim of this systematic review was to identify which socio-spatial determinants are associated with children’s caries in European neighborhoods and might therefore be a suitable starting point for public health interventions.

Methoden We performed a systematic search in PubMed, Web of Science and Cochrane Reviews including all European studies on children’s caries and its socio-spatial determinants since the year 2000 published in English and German.

Ergebnisse We included 35 studies and identified ten socio-spatial determinants investigated in the literature: urbanity, deprivation, mean housing price, gross-national product, mean education, unemployment proportion, density of supermarkets, snack bars and dental practices, and area-based income. Rural residency was weakly associated with caries (Cohen’s d 0.11). Deprivation showed a stronger (inverse) association. For mean housing price, gross-national product, mean education, unemployment proportion, density of supermarkets, snack bars and dental practices we found no association. For area-based income, findings were ambiguous; studies showed associations in both directions.

Schlussfolgerung Many studies find associations between place of residence and children’s caries, but the mediators on this causal path are still not clearly established. Socio-spatial determinants analyzed in this review seem to play a role, but more longitudinal studies would be needed to establish solid evidence for action.

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Artikel online veröffentlicht:
22. August 2023