ArticleBMC geriatrics2022
Utilization of dental services and health literacy by older seniors during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Article in BMC geriatrics, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Recommendations From a Health Care Provider's Perspective for Better Implementation of Telemedicine and Telenursing: Descriptive Qualitative Approach.JMIR nursing · 2026Article
- Access to oral healthcare for children during the COVID-19 pandemic: a mixed-methods study in the Aegean region of Türkiye.BMC oral health · 2025Article
- Observational
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThis study aimed to investigate the utilization of dental services by older seniors during the COVID-19 pandemic and to evaluate their ability of finding, understanding, and using information on COVID-19.
methodsAt the end of February 2021, a survey addressing demographic characteristics of the participants, (pain-associated) utilization of dental services, worries regarding a potential COVID-19 infection, the individual use of protective masks, and difficulties regarding the access to information on COVID-19 (by using the modified European Health Literacy Questionnaire [HLS-EU-Q16]) was developed. It was sent to all patients of the Dental Clinic of University of Leipzig who were either 75, 80, or 85 years old (n = 1228). Participation was voluntarily and anonymously; questionnaires had to be returned within six weeks, no reminders were sent.
resultsOf the 439 replies (response rate 35.7%), twelve were excluded from data extraction due to disinterest, dementia, or lack of age information. Of the older seniors, 81.5% (n = 348) had utilized at least one dental examination and 54.2% of the dentulous patients (n = 199) had attended at least one dental hygiene appointment within the past year. Up to 55.8% of all participants said it was "difficult" or "very difficult" to find, understand, and use information on COVID-19, especially when judging reliability of information presented in the media, which was especially true for seniors with assigned care levels presenting odds ratios up to 5.30.
conclusionsThe investigation revealed a frequent utilization of dental services by older seniors during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the older seniors encountered difficulties finding, using, and understanding information about COVID-19.
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Registered trials
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