Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the oral health behavior and self-rated oral health of workers on their happiness indexes in an attempt to provide information on oral health planning geared toward industrial workers. The subjects in this study were 294 workers in North Gyeongsang Province. As a result of analyzing the relationship between their health behavior and happiness indexes, the workers who got regular health checkups had higher happiness indexes for both single items(p=0.002) and entire five items(0.012), and those who had their teeth cleaned over the past year had higher happiness indexes for both single items(p<0.001) and entire five items(p=0.003). As for a toothbrushing frequency, the respondents who brushed their teeth more frequently had higher happiness indexes for both single items(p<0.001) and entire five items(p=0.023), and those who had ever received oral health education had higher happiness indexes for both single items(p=0.041) and entire five items. The workers who kept their toothbrushes at work had higher happiness indexes for both single items(p=0.001) and entire five items, and the respondents who could afford to visit a dental clinic immediately in case of having a toothache had higher happiness indexes for both single items(p<0.001) and entire five items(p<0.001). The findings of the study suggest that the preparation of systematic oral health programs is required to boost the happiness indexes of industrial workers.
본 연구는 경북지역 294명의 근로자들을 대상으로 행복지수에 구강건강 행위와, 주관적 구강건강인식의 영향을 파악하여 이를 바탕으로 산업장 근로자들을 위한 구강보건계획을 수립하는 기초자료로 활용하고자 하였다. 구강건강 행위에 따른 행복지수를 살펴보면 1년 내 정기검진여부에서는 정기검진을 받는 경우 단일문항 행복지수(p=0.002), 5문항 행복지수(0.012)에서 모두 높게 나타났고, 1년 내 스켈링을 받은 경우 단일문항 행복지수(p<0.001), 5문항 행복지수(p=0.003)모두 높게 나타났다. 칫솔질 횟수에서는 칫솔질 횟수가 많은 경우 단일문항 행복지수(p<0.001), 5문항 행복지수(p=0.023)으로 높았으며, 구강보건교육을 받은 경험이 있는 경우 단일문항 행복지수(p=0.041), 5문항 행복지수 모두에서 높게 나타났다. 근무지에 칫솔을 보관하는 경우에는 단일문항 행복지수(p=0.001), 5문항 행복지수(p<0.001) 모두에서 높게 나타났으며, 아플 때 즉시 치과방문이 가능한 경우 단일문항 행복지수(p<0.001), 5문항 행복지수(p<0.001)모두에서 높게 나타났다. 이상의 결과에서 산업장 근로자들의 행복지수를 높이기 위한 체계적인 구강건강프로그램이 마련되어야할 것이다.