Oral Health Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of People Living with Diabetes in South Asia: A Scoping Review

Prakash Poudel; Lal B Rawal; Ariana Kong; Uday N Yadav; Mariana S Sousa; Biraj Karmacharya; Shaili Pradhan; Ajesh George

doi:10.3390/ijerph192113851

Oral Health Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of People Living with Diabetes in South Asia: A Scoping Review

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Oct 25;19(21):13851. doi: 10.3390/ijerph192113851.

Authors

Prakash Poudel^{1

2

3}, Lal B Rawal^{4

5

6}, Ariana Kong^{2

3}, Uday N Yadav^{7

8}, Mariana S Sousa^{2

3

9}, Biraj Karmacharya¹⁰, Shaili Pradhan¹¹, Ajesh George^{2

3

6

12

13}

Affiliations

¹ eHealth, NSW Government, St Leonards, NSW 2065, Australia.
² Australian Centre for Integration of Oral Health (ACIOH), School of Nursing & Midwifery, Western Sydney University, Liverpool, NSW 2170, Australia.
³ Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research, Liverpool, NSW 2170, Australia.
⁴ School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, Central Queensland University, Sydney Campus, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia.
⁵ Physical Activity Research Group, Appleton Institute, Central Queensland University, Norman Gardens, QLD 4710, Australia.
⁶ Translational Health Research Institute (THRI), Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW 2560, Australia.
⁷ National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
⁸ Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
⁹ Improving Palliative, Aged and Chronic Care through Clinical Research and Translation (IMPACCT), Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia.
¹⁰ Department of Community and Public Health Dentistry, Dhulikhel Hospital, Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences, Panauti 45209, Nepal.
¹¹ Department of Dental Surgery, National Academy of Medical Sciences, Bir Hospital, Mahabouddha, Kathmandu 44600, Nepal.
¹² School of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Surry Hills, NSW 2010, Australia.
¹³ La Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University, Bendigo, VIC 3552, Australia.

Abstract

Diabetes increases the risk of oral health complications. This review aimed to synthesise the current evidence on the oral health knowledge, attitudes and practices of people living with diabetes in South Asian countries and provide recommendations on possible strategies for addressing the gaps in oral health care in this population, including the role of non-dental professionals. Using a scoping review framework, six electronic databases (Ovid Medline, CINAHL, ProQuest Central, Scopus, Web of Science and Embase) were searched to identify the relevant literature published between January 2000 and December 2021. The data were extracted into three main categories based on the review's aims, and further refined into sub-categories. A total of 23 studies were included. The review identified that while people with diabetes living in South Asian countries had some level of awareness about oral health and limited care practices to maintain good oral health, there were gaps in knowledge, and there were areas where their oral health practices and attitudes could be improved. The findings suggest a need for developing targeted oral health policies as well as implementing integrated oral health care interventions involving non-dental professionals to improve the oral health outcomes of people with diabetes.

Keywords: diabetes mellitus; health knowledge, attitudes, practice; health policy; oral health.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Asia
Diabetes Mellitus* / epidemiology
Diabetes Mellitus* / therapy
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Humans
Oral Health*

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the Western to the World scholarship, funded by Western Sydney University.